Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “grouping”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Website LLMs.txt shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 973 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 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #1 2 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6 FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1815) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #18 ↑3 10 too low 9 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 IP2Location Country Blocker 30K+ · 4.1★ (128) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Instapage Plugin 4K+ · 4.8★ (218) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #13 ↑2 1 too low 13 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #6 ↓3 7 too high 14 Plugin Groups 1K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #15 ↑1 16 Hide admin notices – Admin Notification Center 7K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓3 4 too high 17 Advanced Shipping Rates for WooCommerce: Flexible Table Rate Shipping Rules 2K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #21 ↑3 4 too low 18 Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Extensions for Leaflet Map 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #24 ↓5 5 too low 20 Shipping Packages for WooCommerce – Dropship from multiple locations like AliExpress, eBay, Amazon, Etsy 900+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 Sticky Block for Gutenberg Editor 7K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Block Manager 4K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 WUPO Group Attributes for WooCommerce 400+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 Z Zone Manager (Zoninator) 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.