wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “image crop”
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 “image crop”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Better image sizes shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Manual Image Crop 7K+ · 4.1★ (56) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #1 2 
Image Regenerate & Select Crop 7K+ · 4.7★ (58)
wp.org #2 3 
EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Image Aspect Ratio Crop Field for Advanced Custom Fields 20K+ · 4.8★ (26)
wp.org #3 3 too high 7 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264)
wp.org #8 9 
Crop-Thumbnails 40K+ · 4.6★ (67)
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 
Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279)
wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 
Simple Image Sizes 60K+ · 4.6★ (91)
wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 
ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117)
wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too high 13 
Smart Image Resize for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (82)
wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 F Featured Image Admin Thumb 20K+ · 4.7★ (40)
wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 
Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79)
wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 
EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links 5K+ · 5.0★ (33)
wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 
ShortPixel Adaptive Images – WebP, AVIF, CDN, Image Optimization 10K+ · 4.8★ (145) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
Gallery by BestWebSoft – Customizable Image and Photo Galleries for WordPress 10K+ · 4.0★ (158)
wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 
Image Photo Gallery Final Tiles Grid 20K+ · 4.7★ (353) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↓6 3 too low 20 Better image sizes 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 
Modern Image Formats 100K+ · 3.6★ (26)
wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 
Image Editor by Pixo 700+ · 3.5★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 
Image Gallery Block – Showcase Photos in Stunning Responsive Grids 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 
Secondary Product Image for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.5★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.