Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “indexes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Templ Optimizer shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ 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

Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 973 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 Contextual Related Posts 50K+ · 4.8★ (201) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #5 6 WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 ElasticPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #18 ↓5 10 too low 9 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #20 ↓5 11 too low 10 WP Fast Total Search – The Power of Indexed Search 1K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Equal Height Columns 10K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 Rich Table of Contents 20K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13 Team Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (53) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Index WP Users For Speed 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too high 15 Servebolt Optimizer 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↑4 2 too high 16 Bulk NoIndex & NoFollow Toolkit 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Templ Optimizer 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 too high 18 AI Search for WooCommerce – Semantic Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 F70 Simple Table of Contents 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑3 8 too high 20 Scry Search: Meilisearch for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 WebEquipe PDF Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑3 6 too high 23 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 noindex Past Events for The Events Calendar 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.