wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “developing”
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 “developing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Powerkit – Supercharge your WordPress Site shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 2215 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #1 2 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #2 3 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1917)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 
Performance Lab 100K+ · 4.3★ (51)
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215)
wp.org #15 7 too low 9 
SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134)
wp.org #9 ↑2 10 
SiteOrigin CSS 100K+ · 4.9★ (153)
wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 
Performant Translations 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓2 5 too high 12 
WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ · 4.8★ (169)
wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 
PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230)
wp.org #17 4 too low 14 
Gutenberg 400K+ · 2.1★ (3888)
wp.org #8 ↓1 6 too high 15 
HivePress – Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 
Transliterator – Multilingual and Multi-script Text Conversion 3K+ · 4.8★ (96)
wp.org #16 17 
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136)
wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 
WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162)
wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Powerkit – Supercharge your WordPress Site 10K+ · 4.5★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑2 10 too high 21 
Disable Media Pages 10K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 22 
Helper Lite for PageSpeed 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 
Purge Varnish Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 
AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓8 6 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.