Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “friends”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Futurio Extra shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ 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

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Friends 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 too high 6 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #10 ↑9 4 too low 7 Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #7 8 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Refer A Friend for WooCommerce by WPGens 1K+ · 4.9★ (39) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014) wp.org #22 ↑2 9 too low 14 SearchWP Live Ajax Search 40K+ · 4.7★ (36) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #20 ↓3 5 too low 16 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Loyalty Points Rewards and Referral for WooCommerce – WPLoyalty 3K+ · 5.0★ (310) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Wallet for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (188) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Quiz Cat – WordPress Quiz Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 EchoRewards – Refer a Friend Rewards Program for WooCommerce 300+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 WP-DraftsForFriends 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Enable Mastodon Apps 500+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Futurio Extra 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓3 10 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.