wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “css menu”
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 menu”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Custom CSS Pro shows at wp.org #13 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #1 2 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #2 3 
SiteOrigin CSS 100K+ · 4.9★ (153)
wp.org #3 4 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #4 ↑2 5 
Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851)
wp.org #5 6 
Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219)
wp.org #6 ↑5 7 
Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (576)
wp.org #7 ↓3 8 
Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763)
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 
WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256)
wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 
CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 
WP Responsive Menu 30K+ · 4.3★ (100)
wp.org #12 ↓2 13 
Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488)
wp.org #24 11 too low 14 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #20 6 too low 15 
Menu Cart for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.6★ (99)
wp.org #15 16 
Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41)
wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 
Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27)
wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 
Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Custom CSS Pro 7K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 
WP Bottom Menu 20K+ · 4.5★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
WP Menu Cart 8K+ · 4.8★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #16 6 too high 23 
GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 
Fixed Bottom Menu 4K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
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.