wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gtmetrix”
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 “gtmetrix”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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 Remove Query Strings From Static Resources shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 830 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #1 2 
Fast Velocity Minify 30K+ · 4.6★ (195)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #3 ↑3 4 
WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339)
wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 
Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488)
wp.org #11 5 too low 7 
xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #4 3 too high 8 
PhastPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (99)
wp.org #8 ↓3 9 ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830)
wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 
Enable SVG, WebP, and ICO Upload 10K+ · 4.6★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓2 5 too high 11 
WP Super Minify • Minify, Compress and Cache HTML, CSS & JavaScript 8K+ · 4.1★ (73)
wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too high 12 
Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572)
wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 
CAOS | Host Google Analytics Locally 10K+ · 4.9★ (128) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too high 14 
Assets manager, dequeue scripts, dequeue styles for WordPress 2K+ · 4.3★ (53)
wp.org #14 ↓1 15 
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #22 ↓3 7 too low 16 
Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42)
wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 
FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 
JCH Optimize 4K+ · 4.4★ (69) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 
Speed Booster Pack ⚡ PageSpeed Optimization Suite 8K+ · 4.3★ (186)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 
WPSpeed – WordPress Speed, Cache & Performance Optimization (Core Web Vitals, PageSpeed 100) 2K+ · 4.9★ (40)
wp.org #20 21 
ShortPixel Adaptive Images – WebP, AVIF, CDN, Image Optimization 10K+ · 4.8★ (145) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 22 
DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38)
wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓2 11 too high 24 
Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.