Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “embedding”

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 “embedding”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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

UseStrict’s Calendly Embedder shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 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 #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Audio Player Block – Advanced Block for Embedding Audio Files 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #5 6 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Templately – Elementor & Gutenberg Template Library: 6500+ Free & Pro Ready Templates And Cloud! 300K+ · 5.0★ (383) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #19 ↑2 8 too low 12 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #14 ↓5 1 too low 14 Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #21 ↑2 7 too low 15 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #24 ↓8 9 too low 16 Disable Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (20) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Easy Video Player 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 Simple Shortcode for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 UseStrict’s Calendly Embedder 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 VidSEO – Video transcript embedding for WordPress & LLM 100+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 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.