Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “feed display”

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 “feed display”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

QuadLayers TikTok Feed shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 61 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 401 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 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #1 2 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #2 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #7 ↑3 8 Feed Them Social – Social Media Feeds, Video, and Photo Galleries 20K+ · 4.7★ (639) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 Spotlight Social Photo Feed 60K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14 Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 QuadLayers TikTok Feed 7K+ · 3.9★ (61) wp.org #11 ↑5 7 too high 19 Inavii Social Feed – Live Social Proof Gallery 9K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 WPMR Google Feed Manager for WooCommerce – Sell on Google Merchant Center & Shopping 10K+ · 4.5★ (127) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Product Feed for Google Shopping, Microsoft Advertising and 40+ Channels for WooCommerce Merchant 2K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #21 22 Include Mastodon Feed 800+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Feeds for TikTok (TikTok feed, video, and gallery plugin) 70K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Houzez Property Feed 1K+ · 4.7★ (11) 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.