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

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 “germany”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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 #8 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 16 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

Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 838 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #2 3 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too low 7 DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.0★ (47) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #16 ↓8 7 too low 10 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 U Urvanov Syntax Highlighter 3K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #10 ↑4 1 too high 12 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 HTML5 Maps 4K+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 Goolytics – Simple Google Analytics 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 GF Mollie by Indigo 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #20 ↓2 5 too low 16 DELUCKS SEO 300+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓3 8 too low 17 Wetterwarner 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69) wp.org #19 ↓7 1 too low 19 WC – APG NIF/CIF/NIE Field 10K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 ShipStation for WooCommerce 40K+ · 3.3★ (13) wp.org #9 ↓3 11 too high 21 Keyword Research Tool 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Calendar.online / Kalender.digital – Plugin 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Shiptastic for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 16 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.