wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “join it”

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 “join it”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Quantity Plus Minus Button for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 30 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 681 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #1 2

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #2 3

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #3 4

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #6 ↑4 2 too low 5

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9

WP Telegram Widget and Join Link 4K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12

WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681) wp.org #18 6 too low 13

Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #15 1 too low 15

MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 7 too high 16

Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346) heavy footprint wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17

Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too high 18

Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19

PublishPress Planner – Editorial Calendar, Marketing Content, Kanban Board 6K+ · 4.9★ (178) wp.org #24 5 too low 20

Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21

Quantity Plus Minus Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (30) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22

Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↑1 23

Simple Admin Language Change 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 24

Kadence Starter Templates — Predesigned Website Templates 200K+ · 4.3★ (19) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #17 7 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.