Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

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

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 “listeners”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Seriously Simple Transcripts shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Text To Speech TTS Accessibility places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 92 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Podcast Player – Your Podcasting Companion 10K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #1 2 Seriously Simple Podcasting 30K+ · 4.7★ (329) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Helper Lite for PageSpeed 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 WP-ShowHide 9K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Advanced Cron Manager – debug & control 30K+ · 4.7★ (39) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 Radio Player Page 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 PowerPress Podcasting plugin by Blubrry 20K+ · 4.6★ (231) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Equal Height Columns 10K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Seriously Simple Stats 5K+ · 3.6★ (13) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Liteweight Podcast – run your podcast site without the bloat 500+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Trinity Audio – Text to Speech AI audio player to convert content into audio 2K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Podcast Analytics for OP3 20+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 AjaxPress – SPA & Ajax Navigation with Persistent Audio Player for Radio 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 StreamCast – bring live radio to your site with a sleek player 1K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 StackWC Order Notification for WooCommerce – Get Instant Audio Alert on new Orders 800+ · 3.6★ (12) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Jock On Air Now (JOAN) 400+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 WPRadio – WordPress Radio Streaming Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 WP Podcasts Manager 70+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Seriously Simple Transcripts 900+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 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.