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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “headless react”

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

Headless SSO Plugin for WP shows at wp.org #4 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ 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

Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 112 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #1 2 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #3 4 Contact Form Clean and Simple 7K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Frontend View For Headless CMS 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #7 8 Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Autocomplete Google Address 2K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 13 Custom Site Logo 1K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 Infospica Headless API — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 6 too high 15 Headless SSO Plugin for WP 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 CoCart JWT Authentication 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Sticklight 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 H Headless Block Styles — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 DK Headless API — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Headless Portfolio CMS — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 Convert Blocks to JSON 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WPGraphQL IDE 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 CoCart – Cart API Enhanced 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 A Alphabetical Pagination 30+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #23 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.