wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “email manager”
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 manager”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
FAZ Cookie Manager shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 30 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551)
wp.org #1 2 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #2 3 
File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492)
wp.org #3 4 
Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006)
wp.org #4 5 
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 #5 6 
Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441)
wp.org #6 7 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 
Checkout Field Manager (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.5★ (784)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249)
wp.org #9 2 too high 12 
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170)
wp.org #15 3 too low 13 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #10 3 too high 14 
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #16 2 too high 19 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30)
wp.org #12 7 too high 20 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
File Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (202)
wp.org #21 22 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78)
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 
Stock Manager for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (130)
wp.org #22 2 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.