Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “links”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 6 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

Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 10 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 #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. 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 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #3 ↑3 4 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #15 ↓5 8 too low 8 External Links in New Window / New Tab 30K+ · 4.5★ (77) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor) 10K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #7 ↑8 3 too high 11 EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links 5K+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #13 ↓4 2 too low 12 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #10 ↓3 2 too high 13 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #22 ↑1 9 too low 14 Easy Affiliate Links 6K+ · 4.2★ (34) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Cyrlitera – Transliteration of Links and File Names 40K+ · 4.6★ (62) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #11 ↑2 8 too high 20 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too high 21 Link Manager – Analyze, Automate, and Monitor Links 1K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #21 22 C Cloak Affiliate Links for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Add Anchor Links 1K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) 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.