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← Rankings

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

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 “homepage”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Homepage Helden Contact Info shows at wp.org #3 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 15 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

Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 394 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 Redirect 404 to Homepage 60K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #1 2 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #2 3 Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too low 4 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #7 ↑15 2 too low 6 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #13 ↑5 7 too low 7 Redirect 404 Error Page to Homepage or Custom Page with Logs 10K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 too low 9 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #14 ↓6 3 too low 12 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #19 ↓4 7 too low 13 SX No Homepage Pagination 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Events Widgets For Elementor And The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.5★ (108) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 A Arile Extra 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 11 too high 18 Homepage Helden Contact Info 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 15 too high 19 Catch Breadcrumb 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Desert Companion 10K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Home Page Banner for Astra Theme 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 eCommerce Companion 6K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Clever Fox 30K+ · 3.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Redirect 404 to Home Page – Custom URL 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.