wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “easy feedback”
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 “easy feedback”, 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
Feedback Button – Jotform shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #2 3 
Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726)
wp.org #3 4 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 
Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012)
wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too high 8 
UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309)
wp.org #8 9 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #12 ↓6 3 too low 10 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #14 ↑5 4 too low 11 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #18 ↓1 7 too low 12 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #11 ↑3 1 too high 13 
CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
Strong Testimonials 80K+ · 4.8★ (614)
wp.org #23 ↓2 9 too low 15 
Easy Form Builder by WhiteStudio – Drag & Drop Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #15 ↓2 16 
Pricing Table WordPress Plugin – Easy Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.3★ (133)
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 
Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 
Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 
Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Easy PHP Settings 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Feedback Button – Jotform 600+ · 4.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑1 12 too high 22 
Easy Testimonial Blocks – Testimonial Grid, Customer Reviews & Star Ratings 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Trusted Shops Easy Integration for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 
Anyway Feedback 100+ · 4.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.