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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “insert math”

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

Kabook Auto Schema & Accordion for Rank Math shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 20+ 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

LuckyWP Table of Contents places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 884 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 wp.org
1 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #1 2 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #2 3 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #5 ↑7 2 too low 4 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 WP Last Modified Info 40K+ · 4.9★ (856) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Captcha by BestWebSoft – Advanced Spam Protection, Math & OCR-Friendly Captcha for Site Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 SEO WRITING – AI Writer for SEO & AI Search 20K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 LuckyWP Table of Contents 90K+ · 4.9★ (884) wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 Custom Block Builder – Lazy Blocks 20K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #20 ↑3 6 too low 15 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #10 ↑3 5 too high 16 Import WP – CSV & XML Import Export for WordPress 4K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓7 4 too high 18 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too high 19 SOOZ – AI for SEO – Bulk Generate Focus Keyphrases, Metadata, Alt Text (SEO Autopilot) 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Calculator Builder – Create an Online Calculator 1K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 OGEEAT 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 WP Dynamic Keywords Injector 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 WPMathPub 300+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Kabook Auto Schema & Accordion for Rank Math 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 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.