Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “limitations”, 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

BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 709 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #1 2 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #2 3 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #3 4 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #4 5 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Embed Any Document – Embed PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel Files 50K+ · 4.2★ (92) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #18 ↑2 9 too low 10 SMTP2GO for WordPress – Email Made Easy 40K+ · 5.0★ (67) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Pay for Payment for WooCommerce – Payment Gateway Fees & Discounts 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Media Sync 50K+ · 4.7★ (86) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Unlist Posts & Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Image Aspect Ratio Crop Field for Advanced Custom Fields 20K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 U Upload Larger Plugins 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 Pods Alternative Cache 5K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #14 10 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.