Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “invites”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

WP Discord Invite shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 1940 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP eCards – Branded Digital Greeting Cards 300+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #1 2 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 Templately – Elementor & Gutenberg Template Library: 6500+ Free & Pro Ready Templates And Cloud! 300K+ · 5.0★ (383) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 RSVP and Event Management 3K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Pie Register – User Registration, Profiles & Content Restriction 1K+ · 4.2★ (222) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 All in One Invite Codes 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 9 too high 12 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 WP Discord Invite 400+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #4 ↑1 10 too high 15 BuddyPress Builder for Elementor – BuddyBuilder 1K+ · 4.6★ (57) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 MoreConvert Wishlist for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 WPC Frequently Bought Together for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (84) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Refer A Friend for WooCommerce by WPGens 1K+ · 4.9★ (39) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 SpinupWP 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration 40K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Modal Dialog 500+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 YITH WooCommerce Ajax Search 30K+ · 3.0★ (42) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Custom Thank You Page for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Revi.io – Customer and Product Reviews 200+ · 5.0★ (3) 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.