wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “current time”
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 time”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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
Time Machine shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 40+ 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
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #1 2 
Shortcode for Current Date 10K+ · 5.0★ (116)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too low 6 
Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282)
wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 
Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #2 5 too high 8 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too low 9 
WP Time Slots Booking Form 1K+ · 5.0★ (41)
wp.org #6 ↓2 3 too high 10 
Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171)
wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #18 ↑6 7 too low 12 
Order Delivery Date And Time 1K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓2 7 too high 13 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too low 14 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too high 15 
EasyMedia – Increase Media Upload File Size | Role-Based Upload Limit | Increase Execution Time 70K+ · 4.9★ (99)
wp.org #15 ↓2 16 
Dynamic Time 200+ · 4.7★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓2 8 too high 17 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #19 ↓5 20 
Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
Availability Datepicker – Booking Calendar for Contact Form 7 – Input WP 10K+ · 4.1★ (42)
wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 
Simple Digital Clock 🕒 500+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 
Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Time Machine 40+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 10 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.