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

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 “kudos”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

CiviCRM Member Sync shows at wp.org #4 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 620 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 signals wp.org

Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

Kudos Donations: Easy Donations with Mollie | One-off & Recurring | PDF Receipts | Buttons & Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Team – Team Members Showcase Plugin 10K+ · 4.5★ (67) wp.org #5 6

Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #17 10 too low 8

EU/UK VAT Validation Manager for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.8★ (39) wp.org #8 9

Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #22 13 too low 10

Stock Ticker 2K+ · 4.4★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #9 1 too high 11

Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #19 8 too low 12

CiviCRM Member Sync 800+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #4 8 too high 13

Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #21 8 too low 14

Pollify – Feedback Polls, Anonymous Polls, Up/down Voting, NPS Surveys, Export data 60+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #12 2 too high 15

Tumult Hype Animations 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #23 8 too low 16

Fail2WP 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #10 6 too high 17

Track Orders for WooCommerce – Multi Carrier WooCommerce Shipping 200+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #13 4 too high 18

EasyMap 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #14 4 too high 19

KudosBlock – Display Testimonials, Reviews, & Social Proof — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #11 8 too high 20

WPCasa Migration Tool — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 5 too high 21

Cloudbridge 2FA — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #16 5 too high 22

IntranetOS Employee Intranet with Entra ID — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 4 too high 23

Tinylytics 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 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.