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

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 “mailgun”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 249 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 600K+ · 4.8★ (405) wp.org #1 2 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (5198) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (525) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Mailgun for WordPress 80K+ · 3.8★ (49) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (707) wp.org #5 6 WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (368) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1204) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 AcyMailing – An Ultimate Newsletter Plugin and Marketing Automation Solution for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (157) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (437) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (249) wp.org #17 ↑4 6 too low 12 SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 700+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Email Subscribers & Newsletters – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & Newsletter Plugin for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1169) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #6 13 too high 20 WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 MailerPress – Email Marketing, Newsletter, Email Automation & WooCommerce Emails 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Bit SMTP – Easy SMTP Solution with Email Logs 2K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 Simple SMTP by Maileroo 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 M Mailgun Subscriptions 10+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.