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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “header cleaner”

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 “header cleaner”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 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

Search Engines Blocked in Header shows at wp.org #11 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 200+ 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

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 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 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #1 2 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #2 3 Database Cleaner: Cleanup, Optimization & Repair 10K+ · 5.0★ (150) wp.org #3 4 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too low 6 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too low 7 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #8 ↓3 1 too low 8 Log cleaner for Kadence Security 7K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #16 ↓3 7 too low 10 Transient Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #6 ↓3 4 too high 11 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too low 12 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #24 ↓3 11 too low 14 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 DevDome Media Cleaner: Remove Unused Images & Media Library Cleanup 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too high 16 DGN Webs Spam User Cleaner 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too high 17 Search Engines Blocked in Header 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓3 6 too high 18 Sticky Elementor – Sticky Header, Menu Color After Sticky, Logo Swap & Back to Top Button 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓3 5 too high 19 Oli Media Cleaner 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too high 20 Fand Transient and Action Cleaner 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too high 21 DevDome Admin Cleaner: Remove Dashboard Widgets and Hide Menu Items 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too high 22 Deep Malware Cleaner 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too high 23 Splash Header 10+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Media Purge – Unused Media Cleaner & Duplicate Finder 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.