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

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 “cut”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Tamara Checkout shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 591 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 FileOrganizer – WordPress File Manager 200K+ · 4.8★ (49) wp.org #2 3 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #5 ↑4 2 too low 4 A Advanced Excerpt 80K+ · 4.3★ (101) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WPC AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 A AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild 30K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too low 8 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9 Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Crop-Thumbnails 40K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 CubeWP Framework 3K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 Smart Image Resize for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #14 ↑3 15 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #19 ↓6 4 too low 16 Falcon – Cache, Performance, Security, Cleanup, and Tweaks 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17 WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 Kama Thumbnail 8K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 PRyC WP: TinyMCE more buttons 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 RioVizual — Table Blocks for Comparison, Pricing and Pros & Cons 1K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 Sendcloud for WooCommerce: Automated Shipping, Branded Tracking & Returns 7K+ · 3.0★ (13) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Tamara Checkout 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Hide Archive Label 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 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.