Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “hits”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

MWR Hit Counter shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ 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

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 763 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 SRS Simple Hits Counter 8K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #8 ↑2 4 too low 5 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 WP-PostViews 90K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #11 ↓5 3 too low 9 Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #9 10 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too low 11 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #12 ↑9 1 too low 12 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #22 ↓9 10 too low 13 SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73) wp.org #13 ↑4 14 No Right Click Images 20K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 Log cleaner for Kadence Security 7K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 PW WooCommerce Bulk Edit 20K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 WP OPcache 10K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 Counter-Hits 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 16 too high 19 Squeeze – Browser-Based Image Compression & WebP Converter (No API, No Limits) 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Most And Least Read Posts Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 Real-Time Post Statistics for WordPress 1K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓6 1 too high 23 TemplateSpare – 1000+ WordPress Starter Templates & Full Site Migration Tool | 1-Click Import/Export & No-Code Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 MWR Hit Counter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 17 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.