Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “indication”, 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

MotoPress Hotel Booking Styles & Templates shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export places #5 on merit, 4.4★ from 593 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #1 2 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #2 3 Business Hours Indicator 7K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Outdated Plugin Notifier 400+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 Stars Testimonials — Responsive Reviews & Star Ratings 1K+ · 4.8★ (65) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Widgets for Yelp Reviews 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 EUCookieLaw 200+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 too low 9 Campi Moduli Italiani 400+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #7 ↑12 2 too high 10 Multicons 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 SamedayCourier Shipping 4K+ · 2.7★ (14) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Ultimate WooCommerce Filters 500+ · 3.7★ (14) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Confirmed Shipped for WooCommerce – Add confirmed shipped order status 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 Securicheck – Audit et Sécurité WordPress 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Customize External Links and add Icon 200+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16 FunnelFork – Visual Quiz Builder for Product Recommendations & Decision Trees — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Fast Yandex Metrika 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Dashboard: Available Disk Space 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 IndexMeNow 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 FiskalPAY 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 HUMN-1 AI Website Scanner & Human Certification by Winston AI 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 EU Base Price Display for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 OTYS Plugin 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 MotoPress Hotel Booking Styles & Templates 10K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.