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← Rankings

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

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 “facets”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

MemberKits – Ultimate Member for Elementor shows at wp.org #5 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 323 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Jetpack Search 5K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Events Search & Filter Bar for The Events Calendar 3K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Stock Manager for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (130) wp.org #4 5 SearchIQ – The Search Solution 1K+ · 4.9★ (197) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (323) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 WP Fastest Site Search 100+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Scry Search: Meilisearch for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too high 9 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 MemberKits – Ultimate Member for Elementor 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 W WPPerformanceTester 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 LandTech Extras for Elementor 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Sieve – Faceted Filter for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 14 CoderEmbassy Wholesale Pricing for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 F Faceted Search for Ultimate Member 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 StoreDisplay – Product Display Layouts for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 SwiftSearch for Algolia — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 Fast Filter for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 Loupe Search — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Lumenare Search 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 CatCode Smart Filter for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 AIFORYA Product SEO for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 NitroSearch for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 C Course Layouts – Elementor Addon for TutorLMS 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.