Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “h2 title”

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 “h2 title”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

ClipCloud – Image Generation shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 115 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #1 2 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 K KIA Subtitle 7K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Democracy Poll 6K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #7 8 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 Animated Headline 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Structured Content (JSON-LD) #wpsc 30K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 PublishPress Checklists: Pre-Publishing Approval Checklist – Validate Post Requirements 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 WP Subtitle 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 YITH WooCommerce Product Add-Ons 20K+ · 3.7★ (57) wp.org #13 14 Rich Table of Contents 20K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 AutoWP – AI Content Writer & Rewriter 900+ · 3.8★ (15) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Easy Testimonial Blocks – Testimonial Grid, Customer Reviews & Star Ratings 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Simple Accessible Spoilers 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 T Tailored Tools 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Term Description: Rich Text Editor (Powered by TinyMCE) for WooCommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 Capitalize My Title WordPress Plugin 90+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #22 23 ClipCloud – Image Generation 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 DraftBridge: From Doc/Docx to Blog Post 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 4 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.