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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “give points”

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 “give points”, 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

ACS Points Plugin shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Under Construction places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1285 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 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #1 2 Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create Loyalty Programs, Reward Customer Purchases, Referral Points, User Badges, and Gamification 6K+ · 4.5★ (180) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 GamiPress – Gamification plugin to reward points, badges & ranks in WordPress, now with AI 10K+ · 4.9★ (493) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too low 5 Points Management System For Gamification, Ranks, Badges, and Loyalty Rewards Program – myCred 10K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #8 ↓6 3 too low 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Shipping Live Rates and Access Points for UPS for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 Simple Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create a Loyalty Program 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 ↑1 6 too high 10 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too low 12 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 MyRewards 2K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too low 16 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (592) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #21 ↑2 3 too low 19 WCPOS – Point of Sale (POS) plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.7★ (84) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 ACS Points Plugin 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 16 too high 21 wePOS – Point Of Sale (POS) for WooCommerce & Dokan 2K+ · 3.5★ (22) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 LoyaltyX – Loyalty Program, Points and Rewards for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 FooSales – Point of Sale (POS) for WooCommerce 600+ · 3.2★ (13) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 RewardsWP – Loyalty Points & Referral Program for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 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.