wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “index api”

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 “index api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

REST API Guard shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ 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

Strong Testimonials places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 614 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #1 2

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #11 6 too low 6

Datafeedr API 4K+ · 4.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #3 3 too high 7

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #16 ↓1 9 too low 8

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #12 4 too low 9

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10

Strong Testimonials 80K+ · 4.8★ (614) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11

JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12

GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13

Fast Index for Google Indexing API 300+ · 3.3★ (3) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #2 11 too high 14

WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too high 15

Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16

Mongoose Page Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17

Instant Indexing for Google 200K+ · 3.6★ (36) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 C Contact Form 7 to API 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19

API Stats 80+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #10 9 too high 20

Bing URL Submissions Plugin 40K+ · 3.3★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21

REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22

CIELO API PIX, credit card, debit payment for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #19 3 too high 23

MW LLMS Index 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24

Global Body Mass Index Calculator 30+ · 3.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 7 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.