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

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 “different”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Ship to a Different Address Checked/Unchecked for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #2 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 3003 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

LoginWP (Formerly Peter's Login Redirect) 80K+ · 4.8★ (503) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #13 5 too low 9

Different Menu in Different Pages – Conditional Menu 3K+ · 4.2★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #4 5 too high 10

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12

Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3003) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13

Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #17 4 too low 14

Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #21 7 too low 15

Ship to a Different Address Checked/Unchecked for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #2 13 too high 16

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓4 4 too high 17

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #15 2 too high 18

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20

WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21

Freesoul Switch Theme: load a different theme on specific pages 100+ · 4.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22

Multiple Shipping And Billing Address For WooCommerce 200+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23

Passe-partout, login as a different user 50+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Responsive Testing: simulate different devices 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑1 13 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.