Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 debug”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Debug Log Viewer shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 1244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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★ (5209) wp.org #1 2 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #2 3 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #3 4 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Email Log 80K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 Email Address Encoder 100K+ · 4.2★ (160) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Debug 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Advanced Cron Manager – debug & control 30K+ · 4.7★ (39) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 Email Marketing Plugin – WP Email Capture 1K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Email Subscription Popup — Newsletter & GDPR Consent 1K+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Developer Debug Tools 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 Debug Log Viewer 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 WP Email Log – PostBox 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 WP Email Debug 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Benchmark Email Lite 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑1 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.