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← Rankings

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

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 “gate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

AB Age Gate shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 40+ 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

The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Age Gate 40K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #1 2 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too low 6 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #5 ↑5 1 too high 7 FOX – Currency Switcher Professional for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.4★ (250) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 Core Framework 10K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #20 ↑3 10 too low 11 Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #18 ↑1 7 too low 12 Bread & Butter – Identify Website Visitors, Score Leads & Gate Content 60+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too high 13 Advanced Age Verification Popup 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 WP Mautic 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Fastest Age Verification 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 AB Age Gate 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Landing Page Cat – Coming Soon & Maintenance Pages 600+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 VelvetGate – A Luxury-Style Age Gate 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 11 too high 19 GRO 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑3 4 too high 20 Easy Age Verify 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Email Gated Downloads 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22 LabelGrid Tools 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Currency Switcher for WooCommerce 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Grumpy AI Gate — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.