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← Rankings

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

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 “gap”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Topic SEO Content Optimization Tool shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FakerPress places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 205 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #1 2 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #2 3 Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162) wp.org #3 4 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #9 ↑5 3 too low 7 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #14 ↑7 7 too low 8 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #15 ↑3 6 too low 10 Search Insights – Privacy-Friendly Search Analytics 3K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 FakerPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (205) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (439) wp.org #16 ↑4 4 too low 13 A AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild 30K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #19 ↑3 6 too low 14 WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #21 ↑3 6 too low 16 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too low 17 Topic SEO Content Optimization Tool 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↓1 12 too high 18 MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) wp.org #20 ↓5 2 too low 19 Justify for Paragraph Block 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓2 8 too high 20 Info Cards – Add Text and Media in Card Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑2 12 too high 21 Canvas 9K+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Combine Social Photos | Still BE 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓2 12 too high 23 Swipe Slider – Make dynamic slider with solid, gradient, or image background 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 My Social Feeds – bring your social content into WordPress 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.