wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “device preview”
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 “device preview”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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
ICWT Responsive Device Preview shows at wp.org #1 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 70+ 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
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 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.
Preview E-mails for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (85)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #8 5 too low 4 
MKL Product Configurator for WooCommerce – 2D & 3D Live Preview 2K+ · 4.8★ (42) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #12 ↑3 6 too low 7 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #14 ↑7 5 too low 10 
CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492)
wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓5 2 too low 15 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
Product Filter for WooCommerce by WBW 50K+ · 4.8★ (325)
wp.org #21 ↑2 4 too low 18 
Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 ICWT Responsive Device Preview 70+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #1 19 too high 21 
Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 23 
Virtual Try-On for WooCommerce – Preview AI 20+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 18 too high 24 
Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #10 14 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.