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

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 “giveaway”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Lucky Wheel Giveaway shows at wp.org #4 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Giveaways and Contests by RafflePress – Get More Website Traffic, Email Subscribers, and Social Followers 20K+ · 3.9★ (43) wp.org #1 2 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too low 3 WinRocket Raffle and Giveaway Campaigns for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Woorise – Forms, Quizzes & Giveaways 1K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #3 ↑14 1 too high 5 Gratisfaction- Loyalty, Rewards , Referral, Birthday and Giveaway Program 600+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Smart Coupons For WooCommerce Coupons 30K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #15 ↓3 8 too low 8 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Mailchimp for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.0★ (726) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 Social Boost: Giveaways, Instant win and Contests. Grow followers, shares, subscribers, traffic, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #11 12 Lucky Wheel Giveaway 400+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 Scratch & Win – Giveaways and Contests. Boost subscribers, traffic, repeat visits, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too high 14 Missed Scheduled Posts Publisher by WPBeginner 20K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15 SweepWidget – Giveaway, Contest, Sweepstakes, Competition & Photo Contest Plugin 100+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #9 ↓2 6 too high 16 Run Contests, Raffles, and Giveaways with ContestsWP 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↑2 8 too high 17 File Upload Types by WPForms 40K+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too high 18 Sliding Cart for WooCommerce by FunnelKit – Skip Cart & Reach WooCommerce Checkout Faster 30K+ · 5.0★ (111) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Gratisfaction- Contests Giveaways Referral Loyalty Rewards and Birthdays Program 20+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #19 ↑3 20 Raffle Play Woocommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #18 ↓5 2 too high 21 WPC Grouped Product for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #21 22 Feeds for TikTok (TikTok feed, video, and gallery plugin) 70K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Super Advent Calendar 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑3 6 too high 24 Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.