wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “following”
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 “following”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 237 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 1865 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.
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #1 2 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #2 3 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869)
wp.org #5 ↑5 6 
Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453)
wp.org #6 ↑6 7 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #10 ↑3 3 too low 8 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #8 9 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865)
wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 
Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285)
wp.org #12 ↓6 2 too low 11 
Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251)
wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #11 ↑5 1 too high 13 
Safe SVG 1M+ · 4.9★ (79) host-installed base
wp.org #7 6 too high 14 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #18 ↑4 3 too low 16 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #16 ↓2 17 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 
Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302)
wp.org #17 ↓12 2 too high 20 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237)
wp.org #9 12 too high 22 
Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703)
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546)
wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #22 2 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.