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

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 “live”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Relevanssi Live Ajax Search shows at wp.org #10 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 264 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (760) wp.org #1 2 Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.7★ (396) wp.org #2 3 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (821) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5006) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 SearchWP Live Ajax Search 50K+ · 4.7★ (36) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat 200K+ · 4.3★ (207) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Tawk.To Live Chat 100K+ · 4.6★ (142) wp.org #8 9 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (264) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Live Composer – Free WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.4★ (212) wp.org #13 14 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (123) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Relevanssi Live Ajax Search 7K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Chatra Live Chat + ChatBot + Cart Saver 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 MyLiveChat – Free Live Chat & AI Chatbot 900+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Animated Live Wall Gallery 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 HelpCrunch – Live Chat, Chatbot & Knowledge Base for Customer Service 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Live Rates for ShipStation 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 ProScores – Live Scores 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Charla Live Chat 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #23 1 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.