wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dashboard plugin”
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 “dashboard plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard shows at wp.org #7 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 27 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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.
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #2 3 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #3 4 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #6 2 too low 5 
Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114)
wp.org #5 6 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #13 ↑4 4 too low 10 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #10 ↑1 11 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (398)
wp.org #12 ↑4 1 too low 12 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too low 13 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #7 6 too high 14 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #14 15 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 
WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110)
wp.org #16 ↓1 17 
ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546)
wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78)
wp.org #17 ↑2 3 too high 21 
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34)
wp.org #18 ↓5 4 too high 23 
Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38)
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 
Dashboard Welcome for Elementor 10K+ · 4.1★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.