wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hosts”
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 “hosts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Local Fonts Uploader – Upload & Host Any Font Locally for GDPR shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #1 2 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #2 ↑17 1 too high 4 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1644)
wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too low 6 
CAOS | Host Google Analytics Locally 10K+ · 4.9★ (128)
wp.org #6 ↑1 7 
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #10 11 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #11 ↓3 12 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #15 ↑3 3 too low 13 
Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338)
wp.org #21 ↓9 8 too low 14 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too low 15 
PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322)
wp.org #24 ↓3 9 too low 16 
EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842)
wp.org #19 ↓6 3 too low 17 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 
Flamingo 800K+ · 4.2★ (121)
wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 
Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135)
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Local Google Fonts 100K+ · 4.6★ (83)
wp.org #22 2 too low 21 
Flying Analytics: Self-Host Google Analytics v4 with Speed Optimization 4K+ · 4.9★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓2 8 too high 22 Local Fonts Uploader – Upload & Host Any Font Locally for GDPR 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓2 10 too high 23 
Host Header Injection Fix 400+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #14 9 too high 24 
EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #17 7 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.