wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “facebook plugin”
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 plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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
Simple Like Page – Fast & Privacy-Friendly Page Embeds shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #1 2 
Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446)
wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #10 5 too low 6 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 6 too high 9 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too low 10 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too low 11 
Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122)
wp.org #11 ↑3 12 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #9 3 too high 13 
Meta pixel for WordPress 400K+ · 2.7★ (164) low rating, top placement
wp.org #4 9 too high 14 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
Buttonizer – Social Media Share Buttons, Social Icons, & Social Feeds 40K+ · 4.8★ (396) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too low 16 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41)
wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
WP Review Slider 6K+ · 4.8★ (181) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 
Mongoose Page Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (64)
wp.org #22 23 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Simple Like Page – Fast & Privacy-Friendly Page Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.