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← Rankings

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

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 “impression”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

YeeMail — Email Template Builder & Customizer shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #7 8 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too low 9 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 WP Popups – WordPress Popup builder 30K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Exclusive Addons for Elementor 50K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WP Bannerize Pro 800+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 YeeMail — Email Template Builder & Customizer 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Search Engine Insights for Google Search Console 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.