Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “cruft”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Just Disable It shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Posts in Page places #6 on merit, 4.4★ from 86 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #1 2 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #2 3 cformsII 3K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 LH Page Links To 400+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Abandoned Cart Reports For WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Posts in Page 10K+ · 4.4★ (86) wp.org #19 13 too low 7 Advanced Post Manager 4K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #7 8 TrimPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Ultra Web Hosting Performance Toolkit 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Sewn In Simple SEO 80+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Sewn In XML Sitemap 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Just Disable It 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Solo — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 SpeedSpark – Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals Optimizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 S Self-Sustaining Spam Stopper 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 Sewn In Simple Social Optimization 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 Three Object Viewer 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 R Remove WP Menu 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 C Cruftless — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 S Simple Job Listings 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 H Hide Noisy Metaboxes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Taghound Media Tagger 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 23 D Debug Bar Transients 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 B bCMS 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.