wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “email us”
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 us”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 6 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
WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 54 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
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 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 4 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 ↑5 5 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 
Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244)
wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 
Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169)
wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too low 13 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #23 ↓2 9 too low 15 
YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291)
wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too low 16 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too high 17 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (54) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↑1 9 too high 20 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 4 too high 22 
Elastic Email Sender 10K+ · 4.8★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 7 too high 23 
Email Addon for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
Reoon Email Verifier 600+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.