wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “date down”
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 “date down”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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
Estimated Delivery Date Per Product For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #2 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #6. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #1 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too low 3 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
PI Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.8★ (90) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 2 too high 7 
Order Delivery Date And Time 1K+ · 4.6★ (19) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #2 5 too high 8 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #10 ↑10 11 
LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874)
wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12 
Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #3 9 too high 13 
Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172)
wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too low 14 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 
PublishPress Planner – Editorial Calendar, Marketing Content, Kanban Board 6K+ · 4.9★ (178)
wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 
Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78)
wp.org #22 ↑2 3 too low 20 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 4 too high 21 
Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #17 ↓3 4 too high 22 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Estimated Delivery Date Per Product For WooCommerce 100+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #9 14 too high 24 
GW Count Down 100+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓3 9 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.