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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lowest”

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 “lowest”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 7 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

Variation Price Display For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Show only lowest prices in variable products for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Omnibus — show the lowest price 10K+ · 4.1★ (51) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 WC Price History 5K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706) wp.org #19 ↓4 11 too low 9 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 Tiered Pricing Table for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (104) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 YayPricing – WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts 3K+ · 5.0★ (72) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Profile Extra Fields by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.6★ (15) wp.org #12 13 Advanced coupon for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 WPify Woo – Withdrawal, CRN/VAT, QR payments, Heureka and more for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16 Bitcoin Payments – Blockonomics 2K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Product Price History for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 Variation Price Display For WooCommerce 900+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 EU Consumer Rights for WooCommerce – Guarantee Notice, GARAN Label, Withdrawal Button, Right to Repair, Omnibus Price & GPSR 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Zeno Crypto Checkout for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Shiprocket 10K+ · 2.7★ (20) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Online Payments with iK Pay Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Omnibus by iLabs 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Svea Checkout for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.