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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “google rating”

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 “google rating”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 6 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

Google for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #3 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 268 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts 200K+ · 5.0★ (1221) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too low 11 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #20 ↓2 9 too low 12 WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too high 13 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #3 ↓1 10 too high 14 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #17 ↑5 3 too low 15 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #19 ↑2 2 too low 18 Stars Rating 1K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 Widgets for Google Reviews and Ratings 3K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 too high 20 Product Feed for Google Shopping, Microsoft Advertising and 40+ Channels for WooCommerce Merchant 2K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Embedder for Google Reviews 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Shared Albums for Google Photos 500+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 Editorial Rating – Product Review & Rating System 200+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓4 3 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.