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← Rankings

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

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 “home”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

My IDX Home Search shows at wp.org #3 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 18 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

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #7 6 too low 2 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too low 3 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too low 4 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #14 ↓7 10 too low 5 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Redirect 404 to Home Page – Custom URL 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 MapPress – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap & Leaflet 30K+ · 4.7★ (147) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too low 8 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10 WP Simple Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.8★ (227) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 Home Page Banner for Astra Theme 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 9 too high 12 ActivityPub 6K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too high 13 PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230) wp.org #24 ↓11 11 too low 14 Loan Calculator WP 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 too low 17 AI for Home Services 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too low 19 SEO SIMPLE PACK 100K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #23 ↓6 4 too low 20 Boxtal – Shipping solution 9K+ · 4.0★ (46) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 My IDX Home Search 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 18 too high 22 Wizart Visualizer — AI-Powered Room Visualization 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Home Affordability Calculator 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓2 15 too high 24 Burger Companion 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.