Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “lighthouse”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Oxyplug Preload shows at wp.org #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 640 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139) wp.org #1 2 Fast Velocity Minify 30K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #2 3 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #16 ↓2 9 too low 8 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too low 9 Splide Carousel Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #6 ↓3 3 too high 10 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 Lazy Load for Comments 2K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Cloudinary – Deliver Images and Videos at Scale 5K+ · 4.0★ (64) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Oxyplug Preload 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Playlist Player for YouTube – Fast, Privacy-Friendly Playlists & Channel Feed 1K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Spam Master 200+ · 4.2★ (72) wp.org #20 ↓3 4 too low 17 ImagePress – Front-End Photo Uploads & Member Galleries 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Block for Font Awesome Icons – Searchable Icon Picker, SVG, FA 7 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 Speed Analyzer – Speed Test & Performance Audit 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Fastcache by Host.it 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 SiteFix — Lighthouse & Accessibility Fixes On The Fly 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 W3P SEO – Lightweight SEO, Schema & AI Search Toolkit 90+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 WatchTowerHQ 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 WP Guardian – Security Hardening Checklist & Lightweight Firewall 100+ · 5.0★ (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.