wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hype”
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 “hype”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 1 of the top 16. 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.
Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Tumult Hype Animations 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Finale Lite – Sales Countdown Timer & Discount for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (149)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
MyCryptoCheckout – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 100+ altcoins for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (49) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 9 too low 5 
Pre-Orders for WooCommerce – PreCart 60+ · 4.3★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
Hype 30+ · 5.0★ (4) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Announcement Notification Bar – Notification Top Bar & Sticky Call to Action Banner 50+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement
wp.org #5 2 too high 8 
Birthday Rewards for WooCommerce – NeoLite Birthday Bash 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
AnswerEng for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
KhvichaDev – Waitlist & Notify — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Content Reveal Countdown — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #10 1 too high 12 
Rank Monkey — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #11 1 too high 13 
NextXen Pre-Order Manager for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 H Hype Theme Band Add-on — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews
wp.org #14 15 S Sociable Zyblog Edition 100+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews
wp.org #15 16 H hype it! 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews
wp.org #16 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.