Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “dead”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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

Redirect 404 to Home Page – Custom URL shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smart Custom 404 Error Page places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 1197 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 wp.org
1 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too low 5 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 Spam Destroyer 5K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #6 7 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 StatCounter – Real Time Visitor Stats, Session Replay & Heatmaps 70K+ · 4.2★ (56) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13 Dead Link Checker – SEO and 404 error Fix 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 12 too high 14 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 AffiliateX – Amazon Affiliate Plugin, Product Boxes, Comparison Tables & Affiliate Link Tracking 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #15 ↑1 16 Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too high 19 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too high 21 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Redirect 404 to Home Page – Custom URL 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23 DevDome Link Monitor: Broken Link Checker, Dead Link Checker, Broken Link Finder 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 DevDome Affiliate Manager: Amazon Affiliate Plugin for Amazon Associates 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.