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

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 “efficiency”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Sweet Energy Efficiency shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 4755 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #2 3

Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Autocomplete WooCommerce Orders 30K+ · 4.6★ (137) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 S SSH SFTP Updater Support 10K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7

ELEX WooCommerce Catalog Mode 10K+ · 4.7★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #3 4 too high 8

SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #13 ↓5 3 too low 11

Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12

Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13

CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 2 too high 14

Simple Chat Button 40K+ · 4.8★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #9 5 too high 15

Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #23 ↓4 8 too low 16 H HTTP 410 (Gone) responses 4K+ · 4.6★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too high 17

FluentBoards – Project Management, Task Management, Goal Tracking, Kanban Board, and, Team Collaboration 6K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #18 1 too low 18

Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↑2 4 too low 19

atec Cache APCu 3K+ · 4.9★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too low 20

Hosting Benchmark tool 4K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #24 4 too low 21

Quotes for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (61) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↑1 22

Sweet Energy Efficiency 100+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑2 12 too high 23

Shopkeeper Extender 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

Autoload Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.