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

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 price”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Display Price Free shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ 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

Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 1072 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Custom Empty Price for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WC Price History 5K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Wholesale Suite – B2B, Dynamic Pricing & WooCommerce Wholesale Prices 20K+ · 4.8★ (546) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too low 5 Call for Price for WooCommerce 8K+ · 3.9★ (27) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #20 14 too low 7 Product Price History for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1072) wp.org #23 ↓6 15 too low 9 PW WooCommerce Bulk Edit 20K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #19 ↓3 10 too low 10 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #18 ↓3 8 too low 11 Omnibus — show the lowest price 10K+ · 4.1★ (51) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) wp.org #14 ↓3 2 too low 13 WPC Price by Quantity for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 Show only lowest prices in variable products for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too low 15 Cost Calculator for Contact Form 7 – Price Calculator Free 5K+ · 3.8★ (15) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 too high 16 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Hide Price Until Login 1K+ · 3.5★ (24) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Whols – Wholesale Prices and B2B Store Solution for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 Price by Quantity & Bulk Quantity Discounts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Price Update: Bulk Pricing Editor for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 Name Your Price: Make Your Own Offer for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓3 8 too high 22 Change Add to Cart Button Text for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 ↓6 2 too low 23 Display Price Free 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 Price & Cart Hider – WooCommerce Catalog Mode, Wholesale & B2B 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 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.