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← Rankings

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

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 “deploy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Deploy & Sync Content shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 30+ 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.

Buried gem

Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 696 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #2 3 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #3 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Points Management System For Gamification, Ranks, Badges, and Loyalty Rewards Program – myCred 10K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #13 ↓9 5 too low 9 Mailmunch Forms for Mailchimp 10K+ · 4.6★ (372) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button 200K+ · 4.9★ (696) wp.org #20 ↑1 9 too low 12 Deployer for Git 600+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #6 ↑1 6 too high 13 WEBKINDER Integration for Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too high 14 HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker 10K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Staatic – Static Site Generator for WordPress 3K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #9 ↑6 7 too high 17 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 ReactPress 2K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 SpinupWP 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Deploy & Sync Content 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 FastBots 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Static Porter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.