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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “envelope sender”

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 “envelope sender”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 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

GoPrayer shows at wp.org #16 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 300+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Stop WP Emails Going to Spam 10K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 700+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #3 4 WP-EMail 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #4 5 Improve Email Spam Score – Improves forms phpmail spam score 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Adminkeep – Email Log, Custom CSS, Disable Comments, Site Lockdown & Admin Enhancements 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 CL Simplest SMTP 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 15 too low 8 Custom SMTP: Email Deliverability – FREE & Easy-to-use 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Email Essentials 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 10 Elevoire Email Delivery Doctor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 Admin Optimizer – Performance, Security & Site Cleanup 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Xtreme Forms – WP Contact Form Builder, Lead Capture, Form to Email & Webhooks 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 D Design Cart SMTP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 DHL eCommerce (Benelux) for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Buro Castra – Utilities / Disable Notifications — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Titanium Mail SMTP – Smart Routing & Email Delivery — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 NimblyMail SMTP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Keyless Auth – Login without Passwords 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 TechWizard Mail SMTP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 w3mypq — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 GoPrayer 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Auto DM Studio by LidnTech — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 FormGhost — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Kitgenix Stock Sync for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) 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.