wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ebooks”
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 “ebooks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.
Ranked above its merit
eBook Crafter – Convert Posts to PDF eBooks, Ready to Print shows at wp.org #3 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 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 Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #1 2 
Ebook Store 700+ · 4.4★ (60)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529)
wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 
MPL-Publisher — Ebook & Audiobook Creator 700+ · 4.9★ (46)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #11 ↑3 6 too low 6 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too low 7 
Print My Blog – Print, PDF, & eBook Converter WordPress Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (115) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #18 10 too low 9 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #15 6 too low 10 
PDF Ink Lite – Free PDF Watermark & Password Protection 2K+ · 4.6★ (51)
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Simple Ebook Viewer 400+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↓2 7 too high 12 eBook Crafter – Convert Posts to PDF eBooks, Ready to Print 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↑1 9 too high 13 
LemonInk Ebook Watermarking for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 
SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (288) heavy footprint
wp.org #23 9 too low 15 
Accept Stripe Payments 20K+ · 4.1★ (114)
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 
Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint
wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17 
CatFolders Document Gallery & PDF Library 3K+ · 4.5★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑2 7 too high 18 
Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 
FileBird Document Library 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑3 5 too high 20 
Digital Goods for WooCommerce Checkout 3K+ · 4.5★ (42) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 
Email Marketing Plugin – WP Email Capture 1K+ · 4.3★ (19) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 
Flipbook PDF Viewer & Embedder 300+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓3 6 too high 23 
Shipping Method Display Style for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 
Free PDF to Flipbook 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.