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

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 “failover”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Bob Pay shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ 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

miniOrange OTP Login, Verification and SMS Notifications places #2 on merit, 4.7★ from 439 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CAPTCHA 4WP – Antispam CAPTCHA solution for WordPress 100K+ · 3.2★ (269) wp.org #1 2 miniOrange OTP Login, Verification and SMS Notifications 5K+ · 4.7★ (439) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too low 3 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 Pro Mail SMTP 300+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 D Dualsend SMTP Failover — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Connect WooCommerce Shop to ERP/CRM, Verifactu and EU/VAT Compliance 900+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Scanpay for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 VeravalOnline Failover Post Sync with DNS and IP — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Etibot Makale Botu 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 10 Product FAQ for WooCommerce — Tab, Accordion & AI FAQ Generator 80+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Antimanual – Compact AI Agent for Content, Chat & SEO Automation 100+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Oderland SMTP & Postal Mailer 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 SMTP Mailer by ReadyGo – Email Delivery, Automatic Failover, Logs & Test 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 OrangeSMTP – SMTP, Email Log & Failure Alerts — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15 CloudScale Backup & Restore 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Bob Pay 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Super Duper SMTP Mail Bridge 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 aGo AI Chatbot, AI Chat Widget with Knowledge Base 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too high 19 Jooosi Mail – Email delivery with routing, queues, and failover, built for WordPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 AI-SiteArk 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 MailKite SMTP – Multi-Provider SMTP with Failover, Email Logs & Inbound Email — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 SendGrail SMTP – Secure Email Delivery, Routing & Email Log for Gmail, Outlook, Office 365 & Custom SMTP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Cubixsol Multi AI Image Generator 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 Access Defender – Advanced VPN & Proxy Blocker 40+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.