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

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 “hybrid”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Hybrid AI Translator for TranslatePress shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Maps Widget for Google Maps places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 512 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 B2BKing — Ultimate WooCommerce B2B and Wholesale Plugin — Wholesale Prices, Bulk Order Form & More 10K+ · 4.9★ (109) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #1 ↓1 1 too high 3 Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) wp.org #3 4 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #6 ↑4 2 too low 5 Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) wp.org #5 6 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 YaMaps for WordPress Plugin 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Compact WP Audio Player 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #20 ↓2 9 too low 12 Maps Plugin using Google Maps for WordPress – WP Google Map 10K+ · 4.8★ (172) wp.org #18 ↓3 6 too low 13 WP Datepicker 6K+ · 4.8★ (37) wp.org #13 14 SEO Data Transporter 2K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 WP Header Images 4K+ · 4.4★ (35) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Whols – Wholesale Prices and B2B Store Solution for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too low 17 Maps from Yandex for Elementor 7K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #22 ↓5 5 too low 18 Easy Accordion Block – Accordion, FAQ & Collapsible Content for the Block Editor 7K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 Rapls AI Chatbot – Self-Hosted RAG & MCP Server 90+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Hybrid AI Translator for TranslatePress 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 16 too high 21 Gmap Block 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Scry Search: Meilisearch for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑3 5 too high 23 H Hybrid Cache Maintenance & CSS Healer for Elementor 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 Affilizz 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.