Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disk usage”

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 “disk usage”, we agree with wp.org 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

Disk Usage Details shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 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

Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 402 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disk Usage Sunburst 9K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #1 2 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #5 ↑4 3 too low 3 Disk Usage Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #8 ↓2 4 too low 5 WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) 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 #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size 100K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #20 ↓4 11 too low 10 WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #13 ↑8 2 too low 12 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Imsanity 200K+ · 4.9★ (291) wp.org #24 ↓2 11 too low 14 EasyMedia – Increase Media Upload File Size | Role-Based Upload Limit | Increase Execution Time 70K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #22 ↓3 8 too low 15 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too low 16 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Offload Media – Cloud Storage 1K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Cloud Storage Manager for Fluent Forms – Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3 Uploads 400+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 Disk Usage Details 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑7 17 too high 21 MyServerInfo – Memory Usage, PHP Version, Memory Limit, Execution Time, CPU Usage, Disk Usage 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓3 14 too high 22 Plugin Memory Usage 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 16 too high 23 Auto Delete System Status Logs for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 Dashboard: Available Disk Space 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓3 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.