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

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 “dns”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Use Bunny DNS shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 30+ 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

Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 405 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 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 #2 3 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #3 4 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #4 5 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too low 9 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #11 ↑2 12 Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405) wp.org #22 ↓6 10 too low 13 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too high 14 Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181) wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too low 15 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓7 3 too low 22 Use Bunny DNS 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 17 too high 23 T TGG – WP Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓3 11 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.