Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “duotone”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Hugeicons shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #1 2 Font Awesome 400K+ · 3.6★ (61) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #6 ↓4 3 too low 4 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too low 5 DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too low 6 Icon Element – Icon Pack for Elementor Page Builder (6718 icons) 40K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Gallery Block by Galleryberg: Lightbox with Tiles, Masonry, Square, & Justified Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 8 Disable Global Style 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 ↑1 6 too high 9 The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Gallery Styles – Sort & Style the Gallery Block (Exif, Hover, Duotone) 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 ↑1 7 too high 11 MRW Simplified Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 T TGG – WP Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 PaapiPlugin – Amazon Affiliate Product Boxes, Tables and Search 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 NINZ Icons for Elementor 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too high 15 Duotone Image Filter Tool 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 Head Trimmer 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 H Headless Block Styles — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 WebberZone Code Block Highlighting — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Vivido – Callout Boxes, Colored Notes & Dividers — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 3 too low 20 HubToolify Icons — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 Image Generator – AI Auto Featured Images, Thumbnails & Post Images 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Bloqra – Gutenberg Blocks & Page Builder for Block Editor 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 CT Optimization 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Hugeicons 200+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.