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← Rankings

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

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 “curl”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

Statify Filter shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ 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

Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 405 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #15 10 too low 6 Zotpress 2K+ · 4.9★ (66) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Authorizer 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #7 ↓3 8 Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405) wp.org #24 ↓1 16 too low 9 Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.8★ (395) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 WP-Appbox 2K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 Remove XML-RPC Methods 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↑1 7 too high 13 O One Time Login 40K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 9 too high 14 Sitemap Generator 3K+ · 3.7★ (23) wp.org #14 15 Datafeedr API 4K+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 GNU Terry Pratchett 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 WP Cassify 900+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Xendit Payment 3K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 emerchantpay Gateway Module for WooCommerce 50+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Razorpay for WooCommerce 100K+ · 2.5★ (23) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Paytm Payment Donation 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Datafeedr Product Sets 4K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 Demo Importer Plus 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Statify Filter 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 15 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.