wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom emails”
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 emails”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 plugins are 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
Log Emails shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 11 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 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #9 ↑3 3 too low 7 
Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116)
wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too high 8 
Additional Custom Emails & Recipients for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #11 ↓4 2 too low 10 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 2 too high 11 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #12 ↑8 1 too low 12 
Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474)
wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 
Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133)
wp.org #13 ↓3 14 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) heavy footprint
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169)
wp.org #24 9 too low 16 
Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94)
wp.org #22 ↓4 6 too low 17 
Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83)
wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too low 18 
Preview E-mails for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (85)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #14 5 too high 20 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Log Emails 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22 
Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47)
wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too high 23 
Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #17 6 too high 24 
Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓8 8 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.