wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “fancy select”

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 “fancy select”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

TK Google Fonts shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 250 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

ARI Fancy Lightbox – Popup for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #1 2

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Scriptless Social Sharing 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #4 5

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #5 6

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2052) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

PowerPack Lite for Beaver Builder 6K+ · 5.0★ (243) wp.org #10 2 too low 9

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #15 6 too low 10

FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #17 7 too low 11

GutenBee – Gutenberg Blocks 6K+ · 4.9★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #8 3 too high 12

Gallery Lightbox 10K+ · 4.7★ (106) wp.org #16 3 too low 14

WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15

StoreCustomizer – A plugin to Customize all WooCommerce Pages 20K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16

Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17

Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #13 4 too high 18

Exclusive Addons for Elementor 50K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #21 ↑2 3 too low 19

Gallery – Photo Albums Plugin 2K+ · 3.8★ (277) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20

Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #20 21

Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Slideshow SE 2K+ · 4.9★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #14 8 too high 23

TK Google Fonts 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24

Image Carousel 1K+ · 2.6★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.