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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “experience api”

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 “experience api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Experience API for LearnPress by GrassBlade shows at wp.org #2 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 200+ 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.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 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 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 ↑4 1 too low 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #14 ↑3 7 too low 8 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #13 ↑7 5 too low 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #17 ↓2 8 too low 10 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #19 ↑2 5 too low 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #21 ↓5 5 too low 17 3D Viewer – Turn Product Pages into Interactive 3D Experiences 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too high 18 MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 Experience API for LearnPress by GrassBlade 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 18 too high 21 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 Experience API for TutorLMS by GrassBlade 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 Experience API for LifterLMS by Grassblade 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓2 17 too high 24 Experience API for MasterStudy by GrassBlade 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.