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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “for frontend”

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 “for frontend”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 plugins are 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 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

Frontend Dashicons shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ACF Frontend Admin by DynamiApps 8K+ · 4.5★ (160) wp.org #1 2 WCFM – Frontend Manager for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (286) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #5 6 Frontend Dashboard 500+ · 4.9★ (136) wp.org #6 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too low 8 WP Frontend Delete Account 4K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Frontend Reset Password 10K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Guest Post and Frontend Submission Forms 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too low 16 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 WP Frontend Admin – Display WP Admin Pages in the Frontend 400+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Frontend Product Editor for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 My WP Customize Admin/Frontend 8K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Frontend View For Headless CMS 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 Add Product Frontend for WooCommerce 70+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 Frontend Dashicons 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Frontend Editor ACF 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.