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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cro”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “cro”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Notifal – AI Popup Builder & CRO Engine: Sales Notifications, Social Proof & Exit Intent Popups shows at wp.org #5 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (97) wp.org #1 2 Personizely — A/B Testing, Personalization, Popups & CRO 300+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #2 3 HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat 200K+ · 4.3★ (207) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Pricing Table WordPress Plugin – Easy Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 NOWPayments for WooCommerce – Crypto Payment Gateway 3K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Claspo – Popups, Spin the Wheel & Email Capture 1K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 AI Popup Builder & Popup Maker by OptiMonk 3K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 SEO AI Audit Tool 60+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 WiserNotify – Social Proof & FOMO Notifications, WooCommerce Sales Popups, Reviews & Announcement Bar 900+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Session Recordings, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Unbounce Landing Pages 10K+ · 3.2★ (11) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 Website Optimization – Plerdy 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Notifal – AI Popup Builder & CRO Engine: Sales Notifications, Social Proof & Exit Intent Popups 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 Crypto.com Pay Checkout for WooCommerce 300+ · 3.8★ (8) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Sigmize: A/B Testing, Session Recordings, Heatmaps & Revenue Tracking for WooCommerce, SureCart & EDD 3K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Mustkit Intent & CRO for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Capturly 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 S Salesfire 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Accelerate 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 CROLabs – AI Conversion Rate Optimization, A/B Testing & Personalization — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 CommerScope – Behavioural Analytics for Woo 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Cromanion — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Appsell for WooCommerce: Upsell, Cross Sell, Frequently Bought Together, Discounts, Coupons & Bundles 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.