Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 tile”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Live Traffic Analytics – Real-Time Visitor & Bot Tracking – Google Analytics Alternative shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 162 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #1 2 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #14 ↓4 5 too low 10 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #21 ↓3 10 too low 12 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 StreamWeasels YouTube Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 Gold Price Live – Gold & Silver Prices, Charts, Widgets, Melt Value Calculator 200+ · 2.5★ (8) wp.org #2 15 too high 18 GPX Route Map 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Eventward 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Live Traffic Analytics – Real-Time Visitor & Bot Tracking – Google Analytics Alternative 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 16 too high 21 Custom Price for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓4 3 too low 22 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 IMsupporting Live Chat & AI Chatbot 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 WS40 – Live Weather 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 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.