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← Rankings

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

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 “globals”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

WP Global Site Tag shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 7K+ 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

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 3 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #9 ↓4 2 too low 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 morkva UA Shipping – Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, Rozetka, Nova Global 1K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #5 ↑3 9 too high 15 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #20 ↓2 5 too low 16 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too low 17 Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Custom Global Variables 5K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #10 ↓3 9 too high 20 Style Kits for Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too high 22 WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 10 too high 23 Disable Global Style 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 Global Site Tag Tracking 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #19 5 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.