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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “leverage browser cache”

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 “leverage browser cache”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

J

Ranked above its merit

JTZL's In-Browser Cache shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Seraphinite Accelerator places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 476 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #1 2 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #2 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #3 4 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 CAOS | Host Google Analytics Locally 10K+ · 4.9★ (128) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Comet Cache 20K+ · 4.4★ (108) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Speed Up – Browser Caching 600+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 too high 16 WPSpeed – WordPress Speed, Cache & Performance Optimization (Core Web Vitals, PageSpeed 100) 2K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Cache by Folium 100+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 AEH Speed Optimization: Browser Cache, Optimized Minify, Lazy Loading & Image Optimization 2K+ · 3.2★ (20) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Nginx Cache Purge Preload 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 FlyWP Helper – Page Cache, Page Optimization, Emails for FlyWP Server Control Panel 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 J JTZL's In-Browser Cache 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 SpeedyGo 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.