wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “force sell”

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 “force sell”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

WPC Force Sells for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #2 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Force Sell for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #5 6

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #10 4 too low 7

Min and Max Quantity for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (218) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) wp.org #8 9

WPC Force Sells for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #2 7 too high 10

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #17 ↓4 7 too low 11

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #20 9 too low 12

Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #7 5 too high 13

Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14

WPC Grouped Product for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #11 3 too high 15

WPC Composite Products for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.6★ (76) wp.org #18 3 too low 16

SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17

WPC AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #12 5 too high 18

Cart Notices for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19

WPC Frequently Bought Together for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (84) wp.org #24 5 too low 20

WPC Name Your Price for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too high 21

Terms and Conditions Popup for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22

WPC Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.3★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #16 6 too high 23

WPC Sticky Add To Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too high 24

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.