wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “found rows”
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 “found rows”, we agree with wp.org 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
WPC Smart Compare for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 44 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 816 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #3 4 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #4 ↑4 5 
Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652)
wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449)
wp.org #7 ↓2 8 
404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321)
wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too low 10 
Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 100K+ · 4.8★ (109)
wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816)
wp.org #17 ↑6 6 too low 12 
Bootstrap Blocks 10K+ · 5.0★ (28)
wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too high 15 WPC Smart Compare for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (44)
wp.org #9 6 too high 16 
WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122)
wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too high 18 
AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 
Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59)
wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 
Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29)
wp.org #14 6 too high 21 
Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51)
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 
CSV Importer 3K+ · 4.2★ (28)
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Bulk Order Form for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↑1 24 
WP-DraftsForFriends 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #21 3 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.