wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “increase”
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 “increase”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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
MaxLimits – Increase Maximum Upload, Post & PHP Limits shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 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.
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #1 2 
EasyMedia – Increase Media Upload File Size | Role-Based Upload Limit | Increase Execution Time 70K+ · 4.9★ (99)
wp.org #2 3 
Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size 100K+ · 4.9★ (402)
wp.org #3 4 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #10 4 too low 7 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #14 6 too low 9 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #19 7 too low 13 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 
Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612)
wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too high 20 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 13 too high 21 
Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
GDPRess | Eliminate external requests to increase GDPR compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #11 11 too high 23 
Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 MaxLimits – Increase Maximum Upload, Post & PHP Limits 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #6 18 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.