wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “friendly url”
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 “friendly url”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages shows at wp.org #16 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 30K+ 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.
WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758)
wp.org #1 2 
URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener 10K+ · 4.7★ (169)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37)
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245)
wp.org #7 8 
Remove Category URL – Remove ‘category’ base from category permalinks 40K+ · 4.3★ (61)
wp.org #4 4 too high 9 
Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581)
wp.org #9 ↑1 10 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #12 ↑2 13 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #14 ↑1 15 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108)
wp.org #11 4 too high 16 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #17 ↑3 18 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #19 ↓1 20 
WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
WPtouch – Make your WordPress Website Mobile-Friendly 40K+ · 3.7★ (341)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Viable URL Media Uploader 90+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 W WP Print Friendly 500+ · 3.5★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.