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

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 “downtime”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Automattic For Agencies Client shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 559 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 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Direct Checkout for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (408) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button 200K+ · 4.9★ (696) wp.org #20 ↓2 8 too low 13 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 Cloudways WordPress Migrator 10K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 Web-Stat – Live Visitor Analytics 5K+ · 4.4★ (20) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 FastDup – Fastest WordPress Migration & Duplicator 5K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Duplicate PP 10K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 WebToffee WP Backup and Migration 5K+ · 4.5★ (49) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 Migrate to WordPress.com 2K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Kadence Central – Site Management, Backups, Security, and Reporting 30K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Automattic For Agencies Client 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Image Converter for WebP 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.