wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “digital assistant”
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 “digital assistant”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Smart Admin Assistant shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 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 #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1940 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.
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #1 2 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #2 3 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
EU VAT Assistant for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (37)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 6 
SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (289) heavy footprint
wp.org #6 7 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #11 4 too low 8 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #14 6 too low 9 
PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281)
wp.org #9 10 
Points Management System For Gamification, Ranks, Badges, and Loyalty Rewards Program – myCred 10K+ · 4.6★ (472) not PHP-current
wp.org #10 11 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940)
wp.org #19 8 too low 12 
Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279)
wp.org #17 5 too low 13 
GamiPress – Gamification plugin to reward points, badges & ranks in WordPress, now with AI 10K+ · 4.9★ (493) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 2 too low 14 
WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306)
wp.org #23 9 too low 15 
Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Real Cookie Banner: GDPR & ePrivacy Cookie Consent 100K+ · 4.9★ (492) not PHP-current
wp.org #22 6 too low 17 
European VAT Compliance Assistant for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (26)
wp.org #12 5 too high 18 
AutomatorWP – No-Code Workflow Automation, Integration & Webhooks Plugin, now with AI 6K+ · 4.8★ (202) heavy footprint
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #20 21 
Accessibility Assistant – EAA ADA WCAG AODA 100+ · 4.3★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #8 13 too high 22 
Accessibility Assistant – Readabler 300+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #16 6 too high 23 
Tranzly™ – AI Translation & Multilingual 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Smart Admin Assistant 200+ · 3.3★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #7 17 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.