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

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 “hot”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 3 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.

H

Ranked above its merit

Hot Accordion shows at wp.org #4 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 489 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Hot Random Image 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #1 2 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too low 3 OSM – OpenStreetMap 10K+ · 4.6★ (137) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 WPC Smart Compare for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Estatik Real Estate Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (187) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.8★ (395) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 Live Auto Refresh (Hot Reload / Live Reload for WordPress Developers) 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 PeproDev Ultimate Invoice 5K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 BEW – Elementor Addons, Templates & AI Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Accordions – Responsive Accordion & FAQ Plugin for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too high 15 Hot Blocks 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 13 too high 16 Qwizcards | online quizzes and flashcards 100+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17 WPCasa – Real Estate for WordPress 1K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 Tourfic – AI Powered Travel Booking, Hotel Booking & Car Rental 1K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 One to one user Chat by WPGuppy 500+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 LeadBooster Chatbot by Pipedrive 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 Simplify Admin Menus 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Hot Products — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 H Hot Accordion 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #4 20 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.