wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “green website”
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 “green website”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
GreenPay(tm) by Green.Money shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1146 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.
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #1 2 
Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Live Composer – Free WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.4★ (212)
wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 
The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380)
wp.org #9 ↑4 4 too low 6 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146)
wp.org #19 ↑2 12 too low 8 
Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215)
wp.org #14 ↑6 6 too low 9 
iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more 200K+ · 4.7★ (397)
wp.org #16 7 too low 10 
WP All Export – Drag & Drop Export to Any Custom CSV, XML & Excel 100K+ · 4.5★ (415)
wp.org #22 12 too low 11 
Online Active Users 2K+ · 4.7★ (51)
wp.org #17 6 too low 12 
Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 7 too high 13 
PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66)
wp.org #23 10 too low 14 
Uptime Monitoring for WordPress – My Website is Online 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #3 11 too high 15 
ZoloBlocks – Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, Website Builder & Page Design Toolkit 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 
Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 
BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↓2 10 too high 18 
DevDome Analytics: Bot Traffic vs Human Traffic Website Statistics 300+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #15 3 too high 19 
TableKit – WordPress Table Builder for Data Tables, WooCommerce Product Tables & Post Tables 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
Inspiro Starter Sites – 20+ Free Demo Templates for Gutenberg & Elementor 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 
GW Under Construction Mode 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 22 
PressGo AI — Landing Page & Website Builder for Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #12 10 too high 23 
Annotix – Visual Website Feedback & Annotation 70+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 GreenPay(tm) by Green.Money 100+ · 1.7★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #11 13 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.