wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lot”
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 “lot”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 85 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #2 3 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #4 ↑5 5 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #5 ↑2 6 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #6 ↓3 7 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525)
wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 
White Label CMS 200K+ · 4.7★ (114)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 
Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406)
wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735)
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↓2 13 
FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125)
wp.org #16 3 too low 14 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓4 4 too high 15 
Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525)
wp.org #18 ↑4 3 too low 16 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↓3 9 too high 18 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) heavy footprint
wp.org #24 ↓6 5 too low 20 
Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Yoast Test Helper 50K+ · 4.9★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 7 too high 23 
My WP Customize Admin/Frontend 8K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 
Embed Lottie Player – bring your pages to life with animation 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑2 3 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.