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

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 “insights”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Search Engine Insights for Google Search Console shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post Views Counter places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1237 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 ↑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 #2 ↓1 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↑4 3 too low 4 Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too low 7 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 Search Insights – Privacy-Friendly Search Analytics 3K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too low 11 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #12 ↓4 1 too low 12 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #24 ↓5 11 too low 14 Disk Usage Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓3 6 too high 15 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #21 ↓6 5 too low 17 Plausible Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too low 18 AWCA – The Great Analytics Insights for Your eStore 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #11 ↓4 8 too high 20 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too high 21 Search Engine Insights for Google Search Console 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 Extended CRM for Users Insights 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23 DBStorage Insights 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑3 4 too high 24 Users Insights Lite – User Management, Analytics & WooCommerce Reports 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.