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

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 “imap”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 plugins are 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

AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ 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

Groundhogg — CRM, Newsletters, and Marketing Automation places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 150 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139) wp.org #1 2 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Customer Engagement System – Popup Builder, Forms, CRM & Email Marketing Automation 9K+ · 4.5★ (340) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 WP Mailster 300+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Newsletters 2K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Bit CRM: Sales CRM Manage Lead, Contact, Deal, Invoice, Client Portal & Collect Payment 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Groundhogg — CRM, Newsletters, and Marketing Automation 2K+ · 4.8★ (150) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Interac e-Transfer / Email Money Transfer (EMT) Gateway for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 ↓1 6 too high 10 MailerPress – Email Marketing, Newsletter, Email Automation & WooCommerce Emails 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Mailing Group Listserv 100+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #21 ↓3 10 too low 12 PressedMail – Email Client, Inbox & Webmail 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 DoubleScale CRM | All-in-One CRM – Sales, Multi-Channel Marketing, Newsletter, Booking, Helpdesk, Automation, MCP & More 80+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓3 9 too low 14 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 MailArchiver 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 IMAP Backup & Migrator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 gRDV Messages 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Bumpcheck – PHP 8 Compatibility Check 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 InboxAuth – Email Security, Setup SPF / DKIM, DMARC & Check Email Authenticity 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓4 1 too high 20 Bonaire 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too high 21 Tempmails 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 MailDraft AI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 D613 Pay – Zelle, Venmo, PayPal & Cash App Payments for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 GRT Ticket — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓4

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.