Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

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

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 help”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Admin Help Docs shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 3213 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (821) wp.org #2 3 Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.7★ (396) wp.org #3 4 Tawk.To Live Chat 100K+ · 4.6★ (142) wp.org #4 5 Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #5 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5006) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27819) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat 200K+ · 4.3★ (207) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3213) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Boei – AI Chatbot, Live Chat & 50+ Channels 900+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7506) wp.org #23 ↓2 11 too low 13 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (264) wp.org #20 ↑3 7 too low 14 Live Composer – Free WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.4★ (212) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 Admin Help Docs 600+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Chatra Live Chat + ChatBot + Cart Saver 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 Live Summary for Gravity Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Search Live 600+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Animated Live Wall Gallery 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 ChatHelp – Click to Chat Button, Chat to Order for WooCommerce & Floating Chat Form 2K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #15 ↑4 5 too high 21 HelpCrunch – Live Chat, Chatbot & Knowledge Base for Customer Service 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 Live Carts for WooCommerce: Track Active, Abandoned, and Converted Carts & Wishlists in Real Time! 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑3 1 too high 23 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Charla Live Chat 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.