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

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 errors”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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 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

Gravity Forms Email Blacklist shows at wp.org #15 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

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 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #2 3 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too low 6 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #7 8 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #8 ↑3 9 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 Email Address Encoder 100K+ · 4.2★ (160) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 Email Log 80K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #13 ↑4 2 too high 16 YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291) wp.org #22 ↓4 6 too low 17 E Error Log Monitor 20K+ · 4.3★ (48) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Mailonix – Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (105) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Contact Form Email 8K+ · 4.3★ (102) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Gravity Forms Email Blacklist 10K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Two Factor (2FA) Authentication via Email 9K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Reoon Email Verifier 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24

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.