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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “link audit”

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 “link audit”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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.

Ranked above its merit

WP Admin Audit shows at wp.org #6 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 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 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #2 3 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 4 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #4 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #12 ↑6 4 too low 9 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #16 ↓7 3 too low 14 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 WP Admin Audit 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #6 11 too high 18 Lockora Security Audit 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑3 10 too high 20 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 SEO for AI Search 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 OrphanPages – Internal Link Audit, Orphaned Pages, Broken Links & SEO Content Structure Analyzer 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Bastora Security Audit 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.