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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dormant users”

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 “dormant users”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Glow: maintenance & support management for agencies shows at wp.org #4 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 800+ 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

Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 1564 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 wp.org
1 WP Last Login 10K+ · 3.8★ (26) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #13 10 too low 4 Last Users Order Column for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Advanced User Avatar | Custom Profile Picture Uploader for WordPress, WooCommerce, and BuddyPress 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #6 7 s2Member – Excellent for All Kinds of Memberships, Content Restriction Paywalls & Member Access Subscriptions 8K+ · 4.1★ (234) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #20 12 too low 9 CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 ITX UserOps — User Management, Login Activity, Sessions & Audit Log 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Last Login Display 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Glow: maintenance & support management for agencies 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 DevDome Media Cleaner: Remove Unused Images & Media Library Cleanup 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Waqai Inactive User — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 DevDome Link Monitor: Broken Link Checker, Dead Link Checker, Broken Link Finder 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 MediaPilot AI – Media Library Folders, Cleanup & AI Metadata 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 SecurynAI – Security, Firewall, Malware Scan, and Vulnerability Alerts 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 YLabs AI Assistant Connector 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Dotdigital for WordPress 400+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Zipchat AI Chatbot, Live Chat & Sales Agent for WooCommerce 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Gatekeep – Universal CAPTCHA & Anti-Spam for All Forms & Comments 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Login Intelligence – User Activity & Login History — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 EdenPersona for WooCommerce – Customer Insights & Analytics — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Advanced Customer Reports for WooCommerce 40+ · 3.5★ (2) 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.