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

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 “domains”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

WP24 Domain Check shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 32 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1645 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #1 2

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3

Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4

Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too low 6

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #6 ↑2 7

WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #13 ↓7 4 too low 10

Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 6 too high 11

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 #14 3 too low 12

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 13

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #19 ↑4 6 too low 14

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #22 ↓3 8 too low 15

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #15 ↓2 16

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too low 17

WP24 Domain Check 4K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #9 ↓2 8 too high 18

Automatic Domain Changer 10K+ · 4.3★ (29) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19

Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too low 20

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #24 ↓4 4 too low 21

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too high 22

Domain For Sale – Landing Page Per Domain, Domain Mapping, Offers & Listings 200+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23

Each domain a page 200+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 24

Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 3 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.