wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “facebook comment”
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 “facebook comment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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
Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511)
wp.org #2 3 
Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #6 7 
Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122)
wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #17 ↑2 9 too low 9 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 
Social comments by WpDevArt 7K+ · 4.3★ (42)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 
Comments Import & Export 2K+ · 4.9★ (68)
wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916)
wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 
AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) heavy footprint
wp.org #21 ↑3 7 too low 15 
The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) not PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↑3 5 too low 16 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #19 ↑3 3 too low 17 
Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219)
wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 
Lazy Social Comments 900+ · 4.5★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19 
Social LikeBox & Feed 10K+ · 3.3★ (47)
wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 
Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 
MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 23 
NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
XT Event Widget for Social Events 800+ · 4.5★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current 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.