Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “draw”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 5 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

OffCanvas / Drawer – add sleek slide-in panels to any page shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 900+ 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

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 MapPress – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap & Leaflet 30K+ · 4.7★ (147) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 Shipping Zones by Drawing for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.1★ (24) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too low 13 Digital Signature For Contact Form 7 5K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Interactive Image Map Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Leo Product Recommendations: Upsell Popup, Frequently Bought Together & Cart Drawer for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 WinRocket Raffle and Giveaway Campaigns for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 RichText Extension 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Counters Block – Animated Number Counters, Stats & Dynamic KPIs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 CubeWP Framework 3K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20 Sharing Image 600+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Meow Workflow – AI Agents & No-Code Automation for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 OffCanvas / Drawer – add sleek slide-in panels to any page 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Interactive Image 200+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Essential Widgets 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.