Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “design”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Fluid Design System for Elementor shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ 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

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WP Content Copy Protection with Color Design 5K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #6 ↑8 7 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #18 ↑2 7 too low 12 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #21 ↑2 9 too low 13 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too low 14 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 MaxiBlocks Builder | 17,000+ Design Assets, Patterns, Icons & Starter Sites 600+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 ZoloBlocks – Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, Website Builder & Page Design Toolkit 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Wbcom Designs – Shortcodes & Elementor Widgets For BuddyPress 600+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Blogsqode – Blog Layouts and News Post Design 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too high 21 Fluid Design System for Elementor 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 13 too high 22 Envision Posts Design 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Amedea – Unique Design Elements for Elementor 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Easy Backend-Style – Custom WordPress admin and dashboard design 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.