wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “depth”
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 “depth”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #1 2 
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Complianz – Terms and Conditions 300K+ · 4.9★ (187)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285)
wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #8 ↓3 1 too low 8 
LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626)
wp.org #9 ↑1 10 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 
Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 
WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 
Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735)
wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 S Simple Lightbox 100K+ · 4.3★ (239)
wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 
PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281)
wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 
SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77)
wp.org #19 ↑5 2 too low 18 
Database Cleaner: Cleanup, Optimization & Repair 10K+ · 5.0★ (150)
wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 
Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (34)
wp.org #14 5 too high 20 HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 
Performant Translations 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #13 8 too high 22 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #23 ↓8 1 too low 23 
CC Child Pages 9K+ · 4.9★ (49)
wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 
Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #20 ↓1 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.