Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “empty cache”

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 “empty cache”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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.

A

Ranked above its merit

Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache shows at wp.org #8 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 4K+ 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

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 1488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #3 4 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #6 ↑4 7 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #18 ↑2 11 too low 8 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9 Comet Cache 20K+ · 4.4★ (108) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 Hyper Cache 7K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #22 ↓8 11 too low 12 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #21 ↓3 9 too low 13 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #19 ↑2 6 too low 14 Cache Warmer 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #20 ↑2 21 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too high 22 Clear All Cache for WP Super Cache 6K+ · 3.1★ (11) wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 Nginx Cache Purge Preload 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 A Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 16 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.