wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “fixes”
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 “fixes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 87 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #1 ↑4 2 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406)
wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 
Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (163) low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 too high 6 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #11 ↓5 4 too low 8 
Parsi Date | بسته فارسی ساز وردپرس و ووکامرس پارسی دیت 100K+ · 4.6★ (130)
wp.org #7 ↑5 1 too high 9 
Screen Reader Accessibility – WCAG, Text-to-Speech & AI Accessibility Fixes 600+ · 4.8★ (31)
wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 
Jetpack Protect 100K+ · 4.6★ (123)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #13 1 too low 13 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too high 14 
Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114)
wp.org #14 ↓3 15 
Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87)
wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 
Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50)
wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 
SSL Insecure Content Fixer 100K+ · 4.8★ (221)
wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 
Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80)
wp.org #19 20 
Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101)
wp.org #18 ↑4 2 too high 21 
Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #22 ↑1 23 
Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133)
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
Demo Importer Plus 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓3 4 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.