wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “improve pagespeed”

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 “improve pagespeed”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 517 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 signals wp.org

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9

Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ · 4.8★ (28) not PHP-current wp.org #4 5 too high 10

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11

Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #12 ↑1 13

Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #19 6 too low 14

Helper Lite for PageSpeed 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓1 8 too high 15

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #15 16

WPSpeed – WordPress Speed, Cache & Performance Optimization (Core Web Vitals, PageSpeed 100) 2K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17

Speed Booster Pack ⚡ PageSpeed Optimization Suite 8K+ · 4.3★ (186) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18

WP Meteor Website Speed Optimization Addon 20K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #23 5 too low 19

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20

LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139) wp.org #24 4 too low 21

Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #9 12 too high 22

Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓3 8 too high 23

Yandex Metrica 20K+ · 3.8★ (33) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #18 6 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.