Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “domain”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Domain For Sale – Landing Page Per Domain, Domain Mapping, Offers & Listings shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1645 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 wp.org
1 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #1 2 WP24 Domain Check 4K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #2 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too low 4 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #3 ↑17 1 too high 5 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Automatic Domain Changer 10K+ · 4.3★ (29) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #11 ↓4 3 too low 9 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too low 12 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #19 ↓8 7 too low 13 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 #21 8 too low 14 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too low 15 Domain For Sale – Landing Page Per Domain, Domain Mapping, Offers & Listings 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 ↓1 9 too high 16 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Each domain a page 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Doubly – Cross Domain Copy Paste for WordPress 10K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20 Domain Search for WHMCS 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Advanced Email Domain Restriction 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Pronamic Domain Mapping 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too high 24 Cross Domain Tracker for AffiliateWP 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.