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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “go down”

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 “go down”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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 Down Slack Alert shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #2 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 4 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too low 8 Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #19 ↑3 9 too low 11 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #21 ↓8 9 too low 13 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #18 ↑3 4 too low 15 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Jetpack VaultPress Backup 20K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #20 ↑4 3 too low 18 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (452) wp.org #24 ↓4 6 too low 19 To Top 60K+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #14 ↑2 6 too high 21 WP Down Slack Alert 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 Top-Down Scroll – Customizable Scroll to Top Button 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 16 too high 23 SpeedyGo 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 GW Count Down 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.