wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “fluent cart”
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 “fluent cart”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Multilingual Forms for Fluent Forms with WPML shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46)
wp.org #1 ↑3 1 too high 3 
Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69)
wp.org #3 ↓2 4 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Fluent Booking – The Ultimate Appointments Scheduling, Events Booking, Events Calendar Solution 20K+ · 4.7★ (46)
wp.org #5 ↓2 6 
FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96)
wp.org #6 7 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too low 8 
FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35)
wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #10 11 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2052)
wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 
Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496)
wp.org #18 6 too low 13 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184)
wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too low 14 
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472)
wp.org #24 10 too low 15 
Ninja Tables – Easy Data Table Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (472)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #16 ↓1 17 
WPC AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #8 9 too high 18 
Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195)
wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 
SMS Alert – SMS Notifications & OTP Login, COD Verification, Abandoned Cart Recovery 3K+ · 4.6★ (35)
wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 
Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (29)
wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too low 22 
FluentAffiliate – Affiliate Program Management Suite, Affiliates Manager 2K+ · 4.6★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #11 11 too high 23 
Max Addons for Bricks Builder 1K+ · 4.9★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Multilingual Forms for Fluent Forms with WPML 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #9 15 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.