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

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 “garden”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Autobute – Auto Image Alt Text, Title & Caption for Image SEO shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Garden Gnome Package 4K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 C Custom Upload Dir 5K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Flexible PDF Coupons – Gift Cards & Vouchers for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Advanced Local Pickup for WooCommerce – Click & Collect, In-Store Pickup 3K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Terms and Conditions per Product for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Event Tickets Manager for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Chatbot for WordPress by Collect.chat ⚡️ 6K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Importify – AI Dropshipping for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #20 ↓2 10 too low 11 Local Delivery Drivers for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #18 ↑1 7 too low 12 Store Locator for WordPress📍 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Checkout Guard – Block Fake Orders, Spam & Fraud for WooCommerce 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 AI Search for WooCommerce — Semantic & Live Search 90+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Popcustoms – Print on demand & dropshipping, Free Personalizer 100+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Pinned Feed Notices – Sticky Announcements for BuddyPress 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 AI Search for WooCommerce – Semantic Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓3 18 AI ChatBot for WordPress by AI BotKit – Live in 2 Minutes, No Code 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Autobute – Auto Image Alt Text, Title & Caption for Image SEO 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 Easy Map – Store Locator, OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Mapbox 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Anant Sites — Elementor & Gutenberg Readymade Template Library Free & Pro Templates 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Postalion – Newsletter, Email Marketing & Automation 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 SubPortal – Subscription Customer Portal for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓2

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.