Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “drip feed”

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 “drip feed”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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.

E

Ranked above its merit

EasySecure Import Export Courses Learndash shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ 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

FunnelKit Automations – Email Marketing Automation and CRM for WordPress & WooCommerce places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 346 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too low 5 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too low 6 Drip for Gravity Forms 500+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes 10K+ · 4.8★ (393) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 FunnelKit Automations – Email Marketing Automation and CRM for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 5.0★ (346) wp.org #23 ↑1 13 too low 11 Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included 40K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 Bit Flows: AI Agent Automation & Integrations for Forms, CRM, eCommerce, Google Sheets, and More 1K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #22 ↑1 9 too low 14 WebinarPress – Webinar System for WordPress 800+ · 4.1★ (40) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Mailster WordPress Newsletter Plugin 7K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 E EasySecure Import Export Courses Learndash 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑1 11 too high 19 PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Showcase IDX Real Estate Search & Lead Capture 2K+ · 3.8★ (35) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 CM Video Lessons Manager – Simplify video lessons management for better education 30+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 FICTBASE 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 AI Content Writer – Automatic Content Generator and Auto Poster 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Drip Content & Scheduled Content Unlock – Content Time Lock — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.