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

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 “dream”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Shopkeeper Extender shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 7K+ 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

Addon Elements for Elementor (formerly Elementor Addon Elements) places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 172 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 2 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #2 3 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #6 ↑7 1 too low 6 WP Mail Log 10K+ · 4.9★ (66) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Addon Elements for Elementor (formerly Elementor Addon Elements) 80K+ · 4.8★ (172) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 MarketKing — Ultimate WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution 700+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 Mooberry Book Manager 1K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 SpinupWP 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 WPC Linked Variation for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Super Blank 9K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Dynamic Pricing and Discount Rules 1K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Job Manager & Career – Manage job board listings, and recruitments 1K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 MyWP Block Pattern – Block Pattern Builder for WordPress 300+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Shopkeeper Extender 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 14 too high 22 Dream University Management 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23 Breadcrumb based on URL 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Print 🖨 300+ · 3.5★ (4) 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.