wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “intuitive”
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 “intuitive”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Mollie Payments for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 69 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Intuitive Custom Post Order 400K+ · 4.4★ (139)
wp.org #1 2 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #2 3 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #6 ↑1 7 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too high 9 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #9 ↑1 10 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #10 ↑1 11 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #11 ↑1 12 
QuadMenu – Mega Menu 10K+ · 4.5★ (270)
wp.org #15 3 too low 13 
Brizy – Page Builder 60K+ · 4.7★ (972)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88)
wp.org #16 ↑5 2 too low 15 
Blocks Animation: CSS Animations for Gutenberg Blocks 90K+ · 4.8★ (73)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215)
wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 
Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83)
wp.org #17 1 too high 19 
FileOrganizer – WordPress File Manager 200K+ · 4.8★ (49)
wp.org #13 6 too high 20 
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162)
wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Mollie Payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.6★ (69)
wp.org #12 ↑8 9 too high 22 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
YMC Filter 4K+ · 4.8★ (34)
wp.org #21 ↓5 2 too high 24 
Real Custom Post Order: Create a custom order for your content 8K+ · 4.8★ (42)
wp.org #24 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.