Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 score”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Cricket Live Score shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1146 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 ↑2 2 too low 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 BZScore – Live Score 500+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #6 7 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #10 ↑5 3 too low 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 ProScores – Live Scores 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 9 too high 11 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 JoomSport – for Sports: Team & League, Football, Hockey & more 1K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 Init Live Search – AI-Powered, Related Posts, Slash Commands 90+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Cricket Live Score 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 15 too high 21 Leaderboarded 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓7 1 too high 22 AZScore: Live Score and football fixures and results 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Scoremer: Football Livescore, Tables and Fixtures 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Olark Live Chat 1K+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.