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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “email api”

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 “email api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log shows at wp.org #2 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.5★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 291 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 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5210) wp.org #1 ↑9 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #4 ↓3 1 too low 4 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #5 ↑14 1 too low 5 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #7 8 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #18 ↓2 7 too low 12 YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) wp.org #2 ↑1 11 too high 14 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #14 ↓3 15 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #15 ↓3 16 Contact Form Email 8K+ · 4.3★ (102) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Elastic Email Sender 10K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #10 ↓5 7 too high 18 Datafeedr API 4K+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too high 19 WP API SwaggerUI 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 WP Change Email Sender 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 Two Factor (2FA) Authentication via Email 9K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓4 5 too high 23 Reoon Email Verifier 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Magic API Email 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓4 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.