Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “episodes”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Podigee for WordPress: Podcast Episodes to Blog Posts shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 591 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 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Podcast Player – Your Podcasting Companion 10K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Anchor Episodes Index (Spotify for Podcasters) 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 PowerPress Podcasting plugin by Blubrry 20K+ · 4.6★ (231) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too low 6 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #19 13 too low 7 MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar 20K+ · 4.8★ (302) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too low 8 Podcast Importer SecondLine 4K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Podlove Podcast Publisher 3K+ · 4.3★ (45) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Podlove Web Player 4K+ · 3.7★ (14) wp.org #8 ↑15 2 too high 11 Buzzsprout Podcasting 5K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 too high 12 Liza Widget For Spotify and Elementor 1K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓3 4 too low 14 Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #24 ↓4 9 too low 16 Seriously Simple Stats 5K+ · 3.6★ (13) wp.org #18 ↓5 2 too low 17 Movie Engine – OTT Streaming Platform for Movies & TV Series 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑9 2 too high 18 Liteweight Podcast – run your podcast site without the bloat 400+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓7 4 too low 19 Podigee for WordPress: Podcast Episodes to Blog Posts 600+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #3 16 too high 20 Captivate Sync 1K+ · 3.2★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓4 4 too high 21 Auto podcast import 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓5 22 Retro Winamp Block 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 Simple Bulk Episodes 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓5 24 Seriously Simple Transcripts 900+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓4 10 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.