Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 widgets”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

All Embed – Multi-Source Embed Widgets for Elementor shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 500+ 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

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 529 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #19 ↓5 11 too low 9 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #11 ↑7 2 too low 10 EMC – Embed Calendly Scheduling With Ease 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #21 ↑1 10 too low 12 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #16 ↑5 4 too low 13 WP Tripadvisor Review Widgets 20K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too low 14 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #20 ↑4 3 too low 18 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Embed Google Photos album 3K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Online Forms — Customizable Payment, Contact, Quiz, Survey Form Builder – Jotform 20K+ · 3.2★ (29) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Embed Lottie Player – bring your pages to life with animation 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 All Embed – Multi-Source Embed Widgets for Elementor 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 18 too high 23 PDF Embed Block – share documents right inside your posts 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 Givebutter Widget 7K+ · 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.