wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “end”
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 “end”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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
Jamie's Front-End Editor for Content Teams shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Front End PM 4K+ · 4.8★ (220)
wp.org #1 2 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #2 3 
UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #3 4 
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #11 ↑4 1 too low 11 
Dynamic Front-End Heartbeat Control 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #22 ↑3 10 too low 13 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 
Orphans 50K+ · 5.0★ (164)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #15 ↑8 3 too high 19 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓5 5 too high 20 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #23 ↓5 2 too low 22 Jamie's Front-End Editor for Content Teams 100+ · 4.6★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23 
Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 
ImagePress – Front-End Photo Uploads & Member Galleries 200+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 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.