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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom tools”

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 tools”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Hostinger Tools shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 3M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 40 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #3 ↑4 1 too high 5 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #5 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #14 ↑6 8 too low 7 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #9 ↓5 10 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #10 ↑8 3 too high 14 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too high 17 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #22 ↑2 3 too low 20 Real Custom Post Order: Create a custom order for your content 8K+ · 4.8★ (42) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #21 ↑2 22 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #19 ↓6 3 too high 23 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Catch Web Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.