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

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 “functional”, 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

eRecht24 Legal Texts shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 50K+ 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

Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 524 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 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #8 ↑9 3 too low 6 Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid 40K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too low 8 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (524) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Inactive Logout 10K+ · 4.8★ (106) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 ↓1 9 too high 13 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #23 ↓3 10 too low 14 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #14 15 USPS Simple Shipping for Woocommerce 8K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too high 16 Gutena Tabs 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 FastDup – Fastest WordPress Migration & Duplicator 5K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Hash Elements 5K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Convert to Blocks 2K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Angie – Agentic AI 100K+ · 3.3★ (20) wp.org #19 ↓10 2 too high 22 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 Pulsating Chat Button 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑2 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.