wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “human design”
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 “human design”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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
RoxyAPI: Astrology, Vedic, Forecast, Human Design, Numerology shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 284 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775)
wp.org #1 2 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Real Cookie Banner: GDPR & ePrivacy Cookie Consent 100K+ · 4.9★ (492) not PHP-current
wp.org #4 2 too high 7 
Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) heavy footprint
wp.org #7 8 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
Echo Knowledge Base – Documentation, FAQs, Chat & Smart Search 10K+ · 4.9★ (124)
wp.org #21 ↓1 12 too low 10 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284)
wp.org #24 14 too low 11 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #15 ↑7 4 too low 12 
Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158)
wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 
Disk Usage Sunburst 9K+ · 4.8★ (36)
wp.org #13 ↓1 14 
Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #16 2 too low 15 
Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82)
wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 6 too high 17 
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #8 9 too high 18 
Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90)
wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 
Gantry 5 Framework 7K+ · 4.6★ (34)
wp.org #14 5 too high 20 
Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
RTMForm – Contact Form, Multi-Step Forms & Form Templates for Elementor 30K+ · 4.3★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #11 10 too high 22 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 RoxyAPI: Astrology, Vedic, Forecast, Human Design, Numerology 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 
Reloom for Human Design — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.