Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “eg”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Impressum shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 270 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #1 2 WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249) wp.org #2 3 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Dynamic Pricing With Discount Rules for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (68) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 PowerFolio – Portfolio & Image Gallery for Elementor 10K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 WP Popups – WordPress Popup builder 30K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too low 10 Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too low 12 Page Speed Optimizer: HTTP/2 Push, Async JavaScript, and Defer CSS 6K+ · 4.7★ (64) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Simple CPT 4K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #22 ↓11 8 too low 15 Responsive Pricing Table 10K+ · 4.6★ (91) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Fullscreen Galleria 800+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 12 Step Meeting List 900+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Bootstrap Blocks 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 B bbp user ranking 200+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 Stock Ticker 2K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Breadcrumb Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 B bbp last post 200+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 JAMP Notes (Just Another Memo Plugin) 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 24 Impressum 4K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #17 ↑2 7 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.