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

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 testing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #1 2 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 #2 3 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #3 4 Change Admin Email 40K+ · 4.8★ (141) wp.org #4 5 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #7 8 Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #8 9 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #22 ↓2 11 too low 12 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 SMTP2GO for WordPress – Email Made Easy 40K+ · 5.0★ (67) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Email Tracker 800+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Email Addon for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 CheckView – Form & Checkout Testing 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 CM E-Mail Blacklist – Simple email filtering for safer registration 700+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Automatic Email Testing for WP 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Clearout Email Validator – Real-Time Email Verification on WordPress Forms 500+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #21 22 Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 Benchmark Email Lite 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #19 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.