wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “css animations”

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 “css animations”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Blocks Animation: CSS Animations for Gutenberg Blocks 90K+ · 4.8★ (73) wp.org #1 2

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #2 3

Animations for Blocks 10K+ · 4.8★ (27) wp.org #3 4

Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 5

HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 1 too low 6

AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8

Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #8 ↑2 9

Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #10 ↓3 1 too low 10

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #16 ↑7 6 too low 11

Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #11 12

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #18 ↓4 6 too low 13

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓7 10 too low 14

Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #22 ↓3 8 too low 15

Tumult Hype Animations 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓2 8 too high 16

Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) heavy footprint wp.org #15 1 too high 17

Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18

aBlocks – Gutenberg Blocks, User Dashboard Builder, Popup Builder, Form Builder & Animation Builder 2K+ · 5.0★ (26) heavy footprint wp.org #21 3 too low 19

Page Animations And Transitions 1K+ · 2.8★ (32) wp.org #12 7 too high 20

Animator – Scroll Triggered Animations 1K+ · 4.5★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓4 7 too high 21

Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑3 4 too high 22

Animated Blocks on Scroll 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23

Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 14 too high 24

Change class in viewport: create animations with pure CSS 60+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓3

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.