Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “holding”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Affilizz shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 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

HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder places #9 on merit, 4.1★ from 66 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 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too high 4 WP-ShowHide 9K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 WP-Print 8K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Really Simple Under Construction Page – Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 1K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Media Hygiene: Remove or Delete Unused Images and More! 4K+ · 4.2★ (41) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66) wp.org #21 ↑3 12 too low 10 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 MeetingHub – Appointment Booking & Meeting Scheduling for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Jitsi 400+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 WPC Product Tabs for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Library Management System 200+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Mox Icons – Icon Pack for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Easy Basic Authentication – Add basic auth to site or admin area 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Image Hotspot Block 200+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓4 19 Affilizz 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 12 too high 20 A little more secure 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 Rapls Sitemap – HTML Sitemap & Post List 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 WatchTowerHQ 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Flitt payment gateway for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Tabby Checkout 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.