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

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 “fidelity”, 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 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

Speaker Lite shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Robin Image Optimizer – Unlimited Image Optimization, WebP & AVIF 100K+ · 4.4★ (131) wp.org #1 2 Grid Gallery – for Photo Gallery, Image Gallery & Portfolio 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 3 SmartDoc to Post Importer 300+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #3 4 PDF Generator for WordPress Elementor 1K+ · 3.6★ (23) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Skyspeed – Image Optimizer, WebP & AVIF Converter 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 DropAvif Image Optimizer – Convert WebP & AVIF | Compress Images 80+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Synced Pattern Popups 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 CapiFlow – Conversions API (CAPI) Tracking for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Imajinn – Magical AI Image Generation 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 Pickpackify By Brainbean 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too high 11 AISA — AI SEO & GEO Assistant with MCP: Alt Text for Accessibility (WCAG), Meta, Schema, Brand Voice — Your Own API Keys 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 SlashImage – Image Optimizer: Compress Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 AP Family Trees 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑4 5 too high 14 DTFBuild Gang Sheet Builder 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Papepo Local WebP Converter 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 BackReload – Backup, Restore & Migration 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓4 4 too high 17 iCortex™ – High-Fidelity Revenue Engineering for WordPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 WPGeared Better Export 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Code and core – Smart Image Ratio 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 BabylonTTS Connector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Speaker Lite 30+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 GlobalDev Mega Product Importer for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 E Eventify – Events, Lists and Calendar 10+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Convert to AVIF and Optimise 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.