wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “deliver”
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 “deliver”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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
CDI – Collect and Deliver Interface for Woocommerce shows at wp.org #2 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 640 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Cloudinary – Deliver Images and Videos at Scale 5K+ · 4.0★ (64)
wp.org #1 2 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #10 4 too low 7 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 
EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842)
wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↓3 10 
WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #19 ↑2 8 too low 12 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640)
wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453)
wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58)
wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too high 18 CDI – Collect and Deliver Interface for Woocommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↑2 16 too high 19 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 11 too high 20 
MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too high 21 
Deliver via Shipos for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑1 15 too high 22 
Message Bridge for Contact Form 7 and Telegram 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too high 23 
SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base
wp.org #23 ↑1 24 
Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑2 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.