Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “current category”

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 “current category”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Category Description for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700+ 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.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7520 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #3 4 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 WOOF by Category 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Post Category Filter (WP Admin) 1K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 WPB Accordion Menu – Collapsible Vertical Sidebar Responsive Mobile Menu – WooCommerce Category Accordion 10K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Media Library Organizer – Folders, File Manager & Media Categories 20K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Media Library Categories 20K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Advanced Category and Custom Taxonomy Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 WP Media Categories 800+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Category Description for WooCommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 R Recent Category Posts Widget 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 9 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.