wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mailjet”
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 “mailjet”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation shows at wp.org #9 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 120 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 #2 1 too low 2 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Mailjet Email Marketing 10K+ · 3.2★ (45) low rating, top placement
wp.org #1 2 too high 4 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 
YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209)
wp.org #12 4 too low 9 
Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25)
wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 
MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (438) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 11 
Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #11 ↑5 12 
WP Fusion Lite – Marketing Automation and CRM Integration for WordPress 4K+ · 5.0★ (69)
wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 4 too high 14 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 
Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
FuseWP – WordPress User Sync to Email List & Marketing Automation (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign etc.) 2K+ · 4.9★ (25)
wp.org #14 2 too high 17 
WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28)
wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 
SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25)
wp.org #17 1 too high 19 
MailerPress – Email Marketing, Newsletter, Email Automation & WooCommerce Emails 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 
Chatbot for WordPress by Collect.chat ⚡️ 6K+ · 4.4★ (38) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 
Contact Form 7 to Mailjet 500+ · 3.9★ (7) closure risk thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 
Comfort Email SMTP, Logger & Email Api 40+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 23 
Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 
Custom SMTP: Email Deliverability – FREE & Easy-to-use 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑1 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.