Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “embed image”

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 “embed image”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Image Prioritizer shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 40K+ 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

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #2 3 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Embed Privacy 10K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #11 12 Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Forward: Embed Image Links 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 Image Gallery 3K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Embed Google Photos album 3K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 G Github Embed 1K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Lite Video Embed 1K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Embed Lottie Player – bring your pages to life with animation 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Image Prioritizer 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 PDF Embed Block – share documents right inside your posts 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 All Embed – Multi-Source Embed Widgets for Elementor 500+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.