Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “editors”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 6 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

WPSSO Tune WP Image Editors shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #1 2 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too high 7 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #15 ↓6 5 too low 11 Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #14 ↑2 15 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 No Gutenberg? – Choose Where to Use the Block Editor or the Classic Editor 9K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 WPSSO Tune WP Image Editors 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑2 13 too high 23 Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #22 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.