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

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 “ghs”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Flutterwave Payments shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Paystack WooCommerce Payment Gateway 20K+ · 4.5★ (25) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #19 17 too low 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #22 ↓1 19 too low 4 Gold Price Based on Weight 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #21 ↓1 16 too low 6 J Cart Upsell and Cross-sell for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Payment Gateway for MTN MoMo on WooCommerce 200+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Paystack Easy Digital Downloads Payment Gateway 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Flutterwave Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 K Kora Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 WebAuthn Provider for Two Factor 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 USMS-GH WooCommerce SMS Notification 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Flutterwave Easy Digital Downloads Payment Gateway 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 USMS-GH Contact Form 7 SMS Notification 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Autocomplete field for Elementor Pro Forms 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 SeerBit Payment Gateway plugin for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 LeadTrackr 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Payment Gateway for Bachs for WooCommerce 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Ask My Content – AI Search Chatbot 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Flutterwave Payments 600+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 KindlyVote 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑3 1 too high 22 Setter AI – AI Chatbot for Appointment Booking & Lead Generation 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Veiligvertoon | Safety information management for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 DEED Pay for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) 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.