Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “inactivity”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh shows at wp.org #3 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ 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

SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 289 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 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #1 2 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #2 3 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #4 ↑5 1 too low 4 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 40K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #11 ↑3 4 too low 8 Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Customer Engagement System – Popup Builder, Forms, CRM & Email Marketing Automation 9K+ · 4.5★ (340) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Panorama – Turn Photos into Immersive Virtual Tours 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 MyRewards 2K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Melapress Login Security 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Bonus for Woo 100+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Live Carts for WooCommerce: Track Active, Abandoned, and Converted Carts & Wishlists in Real Time! 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Simple Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create a Loyalty Program 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 15 too high 19 CM Pop-Up – Create engaging popups to capture attention and boost interaction 8K+ · 3.4★ (13) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 ConvertForce: Popup, Notification Bar & Slide-in Builder 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 OffCanvas / Drawer – add sleek slide-in panels to any page 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 CartFlush – Auto Clear WooCommerce Cart for Inactive Users 60+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Clicks User Manager — Bulk Delete, Edit Roles, Email & Export WordPress Users 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Popup for Elementor 1K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓2 11 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.