wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “exists”
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 “exists”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Featured Image Column shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Perfect Brands for WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 414 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197)
wp.org #1 2 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #2 3 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #3 4 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #7 ↑4 3 too low 5 
Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107)
wp.org #8 ↓3 9 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #14 5 too low 10 
Widget Importer & Exporter 200K+ · 4.7★ (117)
wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too low 11 
Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58)
wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too high 12 Perfect Brands for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.7★ (414)
wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13 
WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138)
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #13 ↑4 1 too high 15 
Automatic Featured Images from Videos 6K+ · 4.6★ (36)
wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 
Force Regenerate Thumbnails 200K+ · 4.7★ (186)
wp.org #20 ↓2 4 too low 17 
Auto Upload Images 20K+ · 4.3★ (106)
wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 Featured Image Column 2K+ · 4.5★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 W WP-SCSS 40K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #19 20 
WP-PostViews 90K+ · 4.4★ (65)
wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 
Smart Archive Page Remove 6K+ · 4.9★ (59)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Modern Image Formats 100K+ · 3.6★ (26)
wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too high 23 D Disable Author Archives 10K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 
If File Exists 30+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 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.