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

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 “everest”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

SmartSMTP shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 388 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 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #1 2 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Everest Backup – WordPress Cloud Backup, Migration, Restore & Cloning Plugin 3K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 miniOrange OTP Login, Verification and SMS Notifications 5K+ · 4.7★ (439) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 E2Pdf – Export Pdf Tool for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #19 ↑1 9 too low 11 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 FuseWP – WordPress User Sync to Email List & Marketing Automation (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign etc.) 2K+ · 4.9★ (25) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #23 ↓4 8 too low 16 La Sentinelle antispam 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 mosparo Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 WPB Popup for Contact Form 7 – Showing Contact Form 7 Popup on Button Click 5K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Smart Online Order for Clover 1K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 SmartSMTP 2K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23 Registration Form for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 myCred Addons – Ultimate myCred Modules To Support WordPress Gamification and Loyalty Rewards 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.