Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

WP Spell Check shows at wp.org #7 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.9★ average from 39 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 289 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #1 2 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #5 ↑5 3 too low 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Orphans 50K+ · 5.0★ (164) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 WProofreader spell & grammar check plugin for WordPress 4K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 too high 6 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 WPAdverts – Classifieds Plugin 4K+ · 4.8★ (160) wp.org #12 ↓5 2 too low 11 PublishPress Checklists: Pre-Publishing Approval Checklist – Validate Post Requirements 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Newsletters, Email Marketing, SMS and Popups by Omnisend 100K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #6 ↓1 6 too high 13 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #8 ↓5 5 too high 14 AI Chatbot for WooCommerce & Live Chat – onWebChat 700+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15 WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 too high 16 AI Content Generator For Elementor 200+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 Dilli Email Validator 100+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #24 ↓3 7 too low 18 Proofreading 5K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 WPRaiz Content API Tool 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 20 WP Wand – AI Content Writer for OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, OpenRouter and Deepseek 1K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21 Aimogen – AI Content Writer, Chatbot, Editor and AI Automation for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Antimanual – Compact AI Agent for Content, Chat & SEO Automation 100+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Grammar Patrol — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Text Prompter – Unlimited chatgpt text prompts for openai tasks 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.