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

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 “customisable”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Age Gate Lite shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Property Hive places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 96 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 2

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #2 3

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #3 4

MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #7 3 too low 5

Event Organiser 20K+ · 4.6★ (140) wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too low 6

GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7

Property Hive 3K+ · 4.9★ (96) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9

Fluent PDF Generator 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #4 5 too high 10

Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11

Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #5 6 too high 12

Coupon Affiliates – Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13

WooSwipe WooCommerce Gallery 3K+ · 4.5★ (39) wp.org #11 2 too high 14

Easy Property Listings 5K+ · 4.7★ (112) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15

Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #21 ↓3 6 too low 16

Church Admin 900+ · 4.7★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #10 6 too high 17

Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓2 9 too high 18

Style Kits for Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #22 ↓10 4 too low 19

Lazy Load for Comments 2K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20

Product Catalog Simple 1K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22

Generate Images (AI) – Magic Post Thumbnail 5K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #24 2 too low 23

What Would Seth Godin Do 900+ · 4.8★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24

Love Me 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.