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

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 “extra”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Futurio Extra shows at wp.org #2 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10K+ 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

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Ocean Extra 400K+ · 3.3★ (67) low rating, top placement wp.org #1 2

Extra Product Options For WooCommerce | Custom Product Addons and Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #8 ↑3 5 too low 4

WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too low 6

PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #20 ↑2 13 too low 8

Profile Extra Fields by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.6★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #6 2 too high 9

Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #21 12 too low 10

Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11

Extra Product Sorting Options for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #11 ↓2 12

Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 100K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #19 ↓5 7 too low 13

Extra Product Options Builder for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 A Arile Extra 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #3 11 too high 15

YayExtra – WooCommerce Extra Product Options 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16

Futurio Extra 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #2 14 too high 17

TT Extra Fee Option for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.8★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 18

Extra Product Options for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.1★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19

Extra Shipping Rates for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 4 too low 20

Envo Extra 20K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21

Solace Extra 10K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23

Extra Styling for MemberPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↑2 10 too high 24

Shortcodes and extra features for Phlox theme 80K+ · 2.1★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 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.