Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 status”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

WP-Cron Status Checker shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 195 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too low 3 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 HTTP Requests Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 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 #14 ↑1 8 too low 7 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 too high 8 Extended Post Status 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #19 ↑2 7 too low 13 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #21 ↑2 7 too low 15 L Log HTTP Requests 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Advanced Custom Stock Status 8K+ · 4.2★ (37) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Post Status Notifier Lite 700+ · 3.9★ (17) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (32) wp.org #8 ↑6 12 too high 21 Show Stock Status for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #7 ↑1 15 too high 23 StreamWeasels Online Status Bar 400+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 SDP Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑3 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.