Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “goodbye”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

WooCommerce Shipping shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 832 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #2 3 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #3 4 Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ · 4.9★ (2003) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #12 ↑2 5 too low 8 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #14 ↑2 6 too low 9 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #15 ↓5 4 too low 12 Live Composer – Free WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.4★ (212) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #20 ↑2 5 too low 16 AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 BTCPay Server – Accept Bitcoin payments in WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #17 18 Pz-LinkCard 20K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Export Single Post Page 3K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑1 9 too high 20 Local Fonts Uploader – Upload & Host Any Font Locally for GDPR 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 UiCore Animate – Free Animations, Transitions, and Interactions Addon for Elementor & Gutenberg blocks 40K+ · 3.2★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 WooCommerce Shipping 70K+ · 2.0★ (18) wp.org #8 ↓2 15 too high 24 PDF Embed Block – share documents right inside your posts 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 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.