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← Rankings

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

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 “famous”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Statify Filter shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 2K+ 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

Ultimate Before After Image Slider & Gallery – BEAF places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 107 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS 8K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #1 2 WP phpMyAdmin 40K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #2 3 WP Popups – WordPress Popup builder 30K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (642) wp.org #7 ↑4 3 too low 5 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 VikRentCar Car Rental Management System 4K+ · 4.8★ (30) wp.org #6 7 SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Ultimate Before After Image Slider & Gallery – BEAF 30K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 too low 9 Layouts for WPBakery 3K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 Jooosi Fon – Use Custom Fonts, Google Fonts or Adobe Fonts 4K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Survey Maker by AYS 5K+ · 4.8★ (79) wp.org #18 ↓1 7 too low 12 Layouts for Elementor 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration 40K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Event Countdown for The Events Calendar 3K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Contact Form X 300+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 wp-forecast 4K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too high 18 Post Status Notifier Lite 700+ · 3.9★ (17) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Magical Shop Builder – WooCommerce Template Builder for Elementor | Shop, Cart, Checkout & Product Page Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Statify Filter 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 17 too high 21 Events Block For The Events Calendar 2K+ · 3.6★ (7) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 I don't like Spam! 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 Chameleon 200+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Pie Forms — Drag & Drop Form Builder 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.