Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “lend”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 5 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

Accept 2Checkout Payments Using Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #13 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization places #1 on merit, 4.3★ from 311 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #10 ↑1 9 too low 2 Awesome Guten Text – 8 Powerful Blocks for Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Oderland SMTP & Postal Mailer 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 W wpDirAuth 500+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Squelch Tabs and Accordions Shortcodes 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #15 ↑1 10 too low 6 User Registration Using Contact Form 7 400+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Sharing Club 50+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Sitecarry Backup & Migration – Restore, Clone & Cloud Backups 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 Epoch – A native Disqus alternative with a focus on speed and privacy 60+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Cryptocurrency Payments & Donations with Copperx 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 KuLoan Ledger — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 Lantern Action Mode — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 5 too high 13 L LendingQ — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 WPML2WPMSLS 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 SC-Lending Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 Accept SagePay Payments Using Contact Form 7 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too high 17 Crowd Control by Postmatic – Comment moderation decentralized 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 Affireo – Affiliates for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 ASB Smart Flow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Accept 2Checkout Payments Using Contact Form 7 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 My Restaurant Reviews 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 PUBLIQ Wallet 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Chat Metrics – Managed live chat plugin for wordpress 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Encrypted Post Type — · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 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.