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

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 “essentials”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 5 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.

Ranked above its merit

Essential Widgets shows at wp.org #3 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 10K+ 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

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 3992 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #2 3 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #9 ↑2 5 too low 5 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #13 ↑5 6 too low 8 Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #22 13 too low 10 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #24 ↓2 14 too low 11 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too low 12 Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Essential Real Estate 7K+ · 4.3★ (52) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #12 ↓3 3 too high 16 Business Essentials for Contact Form 7 7K+ · 3.3★ (10) wp.org #5 ↓1 11 too high 17 Essential Form – The lightest plugin for contact forms, ultra lightweight and no spam 600+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 ↑3 6 too high 21 Essential Widgets 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #3 18 too high 22 Qode Essential Addons 10K+ · 2.8★ (6) wp.org #10 ↓2 12 too high 23 Blaminhor Essentials – SEO, Cache, Backup, SMTP, Redirects, Broken Links, Cookie Banner, Hide Login & More 90+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 YITH Essential Kit for WooCommerce #1 4K+ · 3.4★ (14) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 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.