Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “ftp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 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

External files in Media Library shows at wp.org #18 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 500+ 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

Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 350 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 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #1 2 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #2 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce 100K+ · 5.0★ (350) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 Media Sync 50K+ · 4.7★ (86) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 GravityExport Lite for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #14 ↑6 1 too high 16 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too low 17 FileOrganizer – WordPress File Manager 200K+ · 4.8★ (49) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Export and Import Users and Customers 50K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 WP Import Export Lite 40K+ · 4.0★ (113) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 Bulk Media Register 8K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too high 22 Import WP – CSV & XML Import Export for WordPress 4K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 Virtual Robots.txt 40K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too high 24 External files in Media Library 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 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.