wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lazy loading”
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 “lazy loading”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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 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
ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More shows at wp.org #13 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 117 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #2 ↑4 1 too low 2 
Disable Lazy Load 9K+ · 4.5★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
a3 Lazy Load 80K+ · 4.3★ (148)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #5 ↑3 6 
Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572)
wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #9 10 
LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139)
wp.org #6 ↓2 4 too high 11 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #12 ↑3 1 too low 12 
Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640)
wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 
Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #18 4 too low 15 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 
Custom Block Builder – Lazy Blocks 20K+ · 4.9★ (80)
wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too high 17 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too high 18 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117)
wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 
Lazy Load for Comments 2K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 
Lazy Load for Videos 9K+ · 4.4★ (105) not PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
AEH Speed Optimization: Browser Cache, Optimized Minify, Lazy Loading & Image Optimization 2K+ · 3.2★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 J jQuery Image Lazy Load WP 700+ · 3.1★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 
Image Prioritizer 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 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.