wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “email subscriptions”
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 subscriptions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Flexible Subscriptions shows at wp.org #4 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #1 2 
Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too low 5 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #10 2 too low 9 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #11 ↑1 12 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #13 1 too low 13 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #24 ↓4 10 too low 15 Flexible Subscriptions 1K+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #4 11 too high 16 
Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169)
wp.org #22 ↑2 6 too low 17 
WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (54)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 
Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
Milo Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce and Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 
WC Multiple Email Recipients 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #19 3 too high 23 
Email Subscription Popup — Newsletter & GDPR Consent 1K+ · 3.8★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 
Sublium Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Recurring Payments, Subscription Plans & Installments 700+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.