Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “like”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 700K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 237 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 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 ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Posts Like Dislike 5K+ · 4.3★ (23) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Comments Like Dislike 4K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Like Button Rating ♥ LikeBtn 3K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too low 6 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.7★ (497) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #12 ↑4 3 too low 10 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #18 ↓3 8 too low 11 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too low 13 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #22 ↑1 9 too low 14 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #6 ↑7 9 too high 16 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #16 ↓15 17 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 Social Like Box and Page by WpDevArt 5K+ · 4.2★ (88) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 All-in-one Like Widget 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #9 ↑1 13 too high 23 Simple Like Page – Fast & Privacy-Friendly Page Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 I don't like Spam! 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.