Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “http redirects”

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 “http redirects”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Go Redirects URL Forwarder shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #1 2 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 WP Force SSL & HTTPS SSL Redirect 80K+ · 4.7★ (179) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #3 ↑3 2 too high 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #20 ↓2 10 too low 11 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #19 ↑4 8 too low 12 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #15 ↓4 3 too low 13 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too low 14 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too high 15 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 HTTP Requests Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Shortcode Redirect 10K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #17 18 SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Maintenance Redirect 10K+ · 4.9★ (24) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Add to Cart Redirect for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.9★ (101) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 H HTTP 410 (Gone) responses 4K+ · 4.6★ (21) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 JSM Force HTTP to HTTPS / SSL – No Setup, Fast and Reliable 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #13 ↑3 9 too high 23 Simple Page Redirect 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Go Redirects URL Forwarder 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↑1 13 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.