wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “local web”

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 “local web”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Podlove Web Player shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 8709 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #2 3

OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #3 4

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #4 5

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #10 ↑3 3 too low 8

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1644) wp.org #12 ↓4 4 too low 9

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #13 4 too low 10

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #11 1 too low 11

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too high 12

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 too low 13

Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #15 ↓5 2 too low 14

Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15

EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #17 ↓5 2 too low 16

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #21 ↓3 4 too low 18

NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #20 ↓4 2 too low 19

Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #14 ↑8 5 too high 20

Web Directory plugin Free – AI powered 300+ · 4.1★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓3 13 too high 21

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22

Podlove Web Player 4K+ · 3.7★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓2 14 too high 23

Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24

Shipday Local Delivery for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓4 5 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.