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

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 “decoupled”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 7 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

Parse.ly shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #1 2 Contact Form Clean and Simple 7K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Faust.js 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 8K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Holiday Mode for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 weMail – Email Marketing, Newsletters Builder & Email Automations for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.1★ (30) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Custom Thumbnail Generator 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 10 Init Live Search – AI-Powered, Related Posts, Slash Commands 100+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Mori AI Search 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 WPGraphQL IDE 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 CelerSearch – AI-Powered Instant Search with Meilisearch 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Add WPGraphQL Redirection 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 CoCart JWT Authentication 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Parse.ly 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Simple JWT Auth – JWT Authentication for WP REST API — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 I Invizo Headless Mode 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 AesirX Analytics 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 HyperPress | Hypermedia for WordPress (HTMX or Datastar) 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 WPGreeks Securities & SEO Tools 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 W WPGraphQL Blocks 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Headless SSO Plugin for WP 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 CoCart – Cart API Enhanced 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.