Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “last edit”

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 “last edit”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Change Last Modified Date shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 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 wp.org
1 WP Last Modified Info 40K+ · 4.9★ (856) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Admin Dashboard Last Edits 900+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #11 8 too low 4 Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Force First and Last Name as Display Name 2K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Smart Manager – Bulk Edit for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (288) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Last Modified Timestamp 6K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Bulk Edit and Create User Profiles – WP Sheet Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 ELEX WooCommerce Bulk Edit Products, Prices & Attributes (Basic) 4K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Always Edit In HTML 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Change Last Modified Date 3K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 CBX User Online & Last Login 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 PBULKiT – Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Lock Last Modified Date 80+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.