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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “free”

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 “free”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

WPC Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 828 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4823) wp.org #1 2 Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5006) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Free Shipping Label and Progress Bar for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #2 ↑1 2 too high 5 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2455) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth 3M+ · 3.7★ (2407) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 2K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too high 8 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 3M+ · 4.8★ (8652) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 600K+ · 4.8★ (405) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 reSmush.it : The original free image compressor and optimizer plugin 100K+ · 4.3★ (165) wp.org #12 ↓4 2 too low 11 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (828) wp.org #21 ↓5 10 too low 12 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (821) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 WP Encryption – One Click SSL / HTTPS & Free SSL Certificate, HTTPS Redirect, Security 50K+ · 4.9★ (1144) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Advanced Free Shipping for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.8★ (122) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2130) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 700+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Web Directory Free – AI powered 300+ · 4.1★ (20) wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19 Cimo – Free Instant Image Optimizer & WebP Converter 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Freetop – Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Free Assets Library – Openverse/Pixabay 600+ Million Images 4K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 Groovy Menu Plugin (Free) 4K+ · 3.6★ (25) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 WPC Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #10 ↑10 13 too high 24 MH Free Gifts for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (4) 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.