Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 to”, we and wp.org disagree 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

VK Link Target Controller shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 30K+ 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

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #3 4 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (150) wp.org #7 8 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Link Juice Keeper 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #18 19 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 VK Link Target Controller 30K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Addon Elementor Container Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Sticky Social Link 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Canonical Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.