wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “detect language”
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 “detect language”, 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
Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages shows at wp.org #2 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 30K+ 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
Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 1940 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #1 2 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #9 4 too low 6 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940)
wp.org #13 6 too low 8 
CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236)
wp.org #14 6 too low 9 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more 200K+ · 4.7★ (397)
wp.org #15 5 too low 11 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237)
wp.org #6 5 too high 12 
Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489)
wp.org #17 5 too low 13 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #20 7 too low 14 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117)
wp.org #11 4 too high 16 
Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94)
wp.org #16 17 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #21 4 too low 18 
Multilanguage by BestWebSoft – WordPress Translation Plugin and Language Switcher 3K+ · 3.8★ (92)
wp.org #12 6 too high 19 
Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386)
wp.org #22 3 too low 20 
Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #2 19 too high 22 
Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (163)
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 
Language Switcher for Polylang – Elementor, Gutenberg, & Divi 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #5 18 too high 24 
TranslateRocket – Free Multilingual Translation, Unlimited Languages 90+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
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.