wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “featured circles”
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 “featured circles”, 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
Product Category Showcase for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 171 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #1 2 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #3 4 
Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926)
wp.org #4 5 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #5 6 
Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 
WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122)
wp.org #8 9 
Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522)
wp.org #14 5 too low 10 
TP Product Image Flipper for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #6 4 too high 11 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171)
wp.org #19 7 too low 13 
GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
Xpro Addons — 150+ Widgets for Elementor 40K+ · 4.4★ (28)
wp.org #12 2 too high 15 
Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #9 6 too high 16 
Event Countdown for The Events Calendar 3K+ · 4.6★ (48)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Team Members – A WordPress Team Plugin with Gallery, Grid, Carousel, Slider, Table, List, and More 2K+ · 4.7★ (91)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #13 5 too high 19 
Swatchly – Product Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (29)
wp.org #16 3 too high 20 
HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Product Category Showcase for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 10 too high 22 
Advanced Marquee Effect for Elementor – Smooth Marquee, News Ticker, Image Box & Icon Box Marquee 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
Badges Woo 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 
Services Section Block – present your services in clean grids and columns 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #18 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.