Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “icons”, 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

Custom Icons for Elementor and WPBakery shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ 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

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #1 2 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 ↑3 4 Skyboot Custom Icons for Elementor – Elementor Icons library – 14300+ Icons 200K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 WP Menu Icons 20K+ · 4.9★ (139) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #8 ↓4 9 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 The Icon Block 40K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 M MimeTypes Link Icons 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #18 ↓4 4 too low 15 Easy Social Icons 20K+ · 4.4★ (84) wp.org #23 ↓3 8 too low 16 JVM Rich Text Icons 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Fuse Social Icons 10K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Safelayout Elegant Icons – WordPress icons 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Icon Element – Icon Pack for Elementor Page Builder (6718 icons) 40K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Download List Block with Icons 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 Subtle Icons – SVG Icon Block Suite, Icon Picker & ACF Field 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too high 22 Custom Icons for Elementor and WPBakery 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 Payment Gateway Icons For WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑5 13 too high 24 Mox Icons – Icon Pack for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑2 9 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.