wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom block”
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 “custom block”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
VK Block Patterns shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100K+ 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.
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #2 3 
Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104)
wp.org #3 4 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #5 ↑7 6 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #8 ↓4 2 too low 7 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116)
wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 
Custom Block Builder – Lazy Blocks 20K+ · 4.9★ (80)
wp.org #10 ↓4 1 too low 10 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11 
Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) heavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑8 1 too low 12 
Genesis Custom Blocks 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑1 6 too high 13 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #17 4 too low 14 
Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 
The Icon Block 40K+ · 5.0★ (29)
wp.org #16 1 too low 16 
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #15 1 too high 17 
Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59)
wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 
Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) heavy footprint
wp.org #20 ↓7 1 too low 20 
IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #14 7 too high 22 
SVG Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 
Custom Block Patterns 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 VK Block Patterns 100K+ · 5.0★ (2) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #11 13 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.