wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “first letter”
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 “first letter”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
Justify for Paragraph Block shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #1 2 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Leira Letter Avatar 6K+ · 4.9★ (28)
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
PublishPress Tag Groups: Stylish Displays For Your Tags and Categories 3K+ · 4.8★ (57)
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114)
wp.org #10 11 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 
UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309)
wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too low 13 
CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326)
wp.org #21 8 too low 14 
Easy Auto SKU Generator for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (272)
wp.org #24 10 too low 15 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too low 16 
Change Text Case 1K+ · 4.8★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑3 4 too high 17 
Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 
Linguise – AI Automatic Multilingual Translation 1K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 
USPS Simple Shipping for Woocommerce 8K+ · 4.4★ (28)
wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 
HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑2 21 
Royal Mail Shipping Calculator for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 Justify for Paragraph Block 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑2 11 too high 23 
Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #23 24 M MCM Random Baby Name Generator 60+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #19 5 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.