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

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 “gas”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard shows at wp.org #12 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Blackhole for Bad Bots places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 148 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #1 2 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 Disable Media Sizes 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Goolytics – Simple Google Analytics 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Disable WP Sitemaps 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Controls for Contact Form 7 (Redirects, Analytics & Tracking) 10K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Disable Lazy Load 9K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Advanced Woo Search – Product Search for WooCommerce 60K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard 20K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 WP Cron HTTP Auth 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Disable Application Passwords 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Custom Fields for Gutenberg 1K+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Disable Responsive Images Complete 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 HTML Editor for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 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.