wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “currently”
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 “currently”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Optimization Detective shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 612 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.
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #1 2 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #2 3 
Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645)
wp.org #3 4 
WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #6 ↑1 7 
Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775)
wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too low 8 
What The File 40K+ · 4.9★ (883)
wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too low 9 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 
Widget Importer & Exporter 200K+ · 4.7★ (117)
wp.org #10 11 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
Performance Lab 100K+ · 4.3★ (51)
wp.org #9 3 too high 13 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 S SSH SFTP Updater Support 10K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15 
Online Active Users 2K+ · 4.7★ (51)
wp.org #15 16 
Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92)
wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 
Remove Uppercase Accents 8K+ · 5.0★ (28)
wp.org #16 1 too high 18 
Dynamic Visibility for Elementor 50K+ · 4.6★ (89)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 
reCAPTCHA for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.6★ (76)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
Plugin Report 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #14 6 too high 21 
Catch IDs 20K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Custom Adobe Fonts (Typekit) 60K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 
Word Balloon 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Optimization Detective 60K+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑1 17 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.