Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “id replace”

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 “id replace”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

HTML Tag and Class Replace shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 612 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #1 2 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #2 3 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #10 ↑2 6 too low 5 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Infinity23 (Formerly Tag Manager) – One Plugin That Replaces All The Rest 20K+ · 4.7★ (53) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 CompressX — AVIF & WebP Converter, Media Replacement 40K+ · 5.0★ (197) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #21 ↓1 12 too low 10 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #17 ↑2 7 too low 11 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Search & Replace 100K+ · 4.3★ (283) wp.org #18 ↑2 6 too low 13 Replace Contents 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 9 too high 14 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Easy Search Replace – Find & Replace Text/HTML/URLs, Remove Footer Credit 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #3 ↑1 12 too high 16 Replace Image 8K+ · 4.6★ (65) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Logo or Image Replace by mycore.global 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #6 11 too high 18 HTML Tag and Class Replace 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 ByteFyre DB Replace 40+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 DFX Random User IDs 200+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Custom Profile Picture – Replace Gravatar with Your Own Images 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 ID Image Ad Popup & Roadblock 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 Devenia Replace Media 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 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.