wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “global posts”
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 “global posts”, 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
Posts Like Dislike shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 23 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039)
wp.org #1 2 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #2 3 
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #3 4 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #4 ↑5 5 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201)
wp.org #6 ↓1 7 
Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79)
wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #12 ↑4 3 too low 10 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too low 12 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #19 ↓4 7 too low 13 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 
morkva UA Shipping – Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, Rozetka, Nova Global 1K+ · 4.9★ (29)
wp.org #9 5 too high 15 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #21 ↓8 6 too low 16 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Posts Like Dislike 5K+ · 4.3★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 
Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓2 8 too high 19 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210)
wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 
Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217)
wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 
Posts Table with Search & Sort 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑3 7 too high 22 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583)
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 
Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28)
wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #18 6 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.