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

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 cost”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 8 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

Product Assembly / Gift Wrap / … Cost for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 1071 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Cost Calculator Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (393) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 PI Conditional cart fee / Extra charge rule for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #4 5 Cost of Goods: Product Cost & Profit Calculator for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too low 8 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #24 ↓3 14 too low 11 Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 Advanced Free Shipping for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.8★ (122) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Flat Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (76) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #15 16 WPGlobus 8K+ · 4.5★ (228) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 Extra Product Options for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Gift Wrapping for WooCommerce 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Freight Shipping Quote – Simplify Shipping Cost Requests 300+ · 4.7★ (16) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Product Assembly / Gift Wrap / … Cost for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Klarna for WooCommerce 20K+ · 2.3★ (20) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Extra Shipping Rates for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 13 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.