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← Rankings

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

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 support”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

HEIC Support shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 289 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. 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★ (775) wp.org #1 2 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #2 3 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (820) wp.org #3 4 Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.8★ (395) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 SearchWP Live Ajax Search 40K+ · 4.7★ (36) wp.org #7 8 Tawk.To Live Chat 100K+ · 4.6★ (142) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Awesome Support – WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin 6K+ · 3.5★ (194) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Smartsupp – live chat, AI shopping assistant and chatbots 20K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Live Chat by Formilla – Real-time Chat & Chatbots Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Live Composer – Free WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.4★ (212) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Relevanssi Live Ajax Search 7K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 JS Help Desk – AI-Powered Support & Ticketing System 7K+ · 3.7★ (74) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Chatra Live Chat + ChatBot + Cart Saver 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 HEIC Support 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Free Live Chat Support 500+ · 4.0★ (26) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 WPChat – Live Chat & Messaging Widget for Customer Support 6K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #12 12 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.