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← Rankings

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

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 “down”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

WP Down Slack Alert shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 50+ 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

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↑8 1 too low 5 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too low 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too low 9 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #10 ↓7 1 too low 10 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 Scroll Down Arrow 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 10 too high 12 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #12 ↑2 13 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 HUSKY – Products Filter for WooCommerce Professional. MCP is onboard 80K+ · 4.6★ (337) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too high 21 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too high 22 WP Down Slack Alert 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 16 too high 23 Top-Down Scroll – Customizable Scroll to Top Button 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 GW Count Down 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.