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

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 “cursor”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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 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

Smooth Custom Cursor shows at wp.org #2 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 775 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 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too low 7 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #1 6 too high 8 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too low 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #21 ↓7 9 too low 13 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Smooth Custom Cursor 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 12 too high 15 Jeg Kit for Elementor – Powerful Addons for Elementor, Widgets & Templates for WordPress 300K+ · 3.8★ (79) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 Cursor Style & Animation 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓2 7 too high 17 WSP MCP – Free MCP Plugin for WordPress: Connect Claude, ChatGPT & AI Agents 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 NIBWP – Self-Hosted MCP Server – Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor & Any AI Agent via MCP 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too high 20 Animated Mouse Cursor Trail 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 Cursor Image Lite 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 too high 22 Hura Custom Cursors 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 10 too high 23 Invizo MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, Codex, Cursor and WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 CursorFlex – Stylish Cursor Effects for WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 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.