wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mails”
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 “mails”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 3 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
Mail Queue shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Polylang places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 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.
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 #1 2 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #3 4 
Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56)
wp.org #4 5 
Preview E-mails for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (85)
wp.org #5 ↑2 6 
Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #6 7 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↑1 10 
WP Mail Log 10K+ · 4.9★ (66)
wp.org #10 ↑2 11 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 
Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125)
wp.org #13 ↑4 1 too low 13 
Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87)
wp.org #16 ↓5 3 too low 14 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #24 10 too low 15 
Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52)
wp.org #15 ↑1 16 
Zoho Mail for WordPress 20K+ · 3.7★ (42)
wp.org #11 ↑2 5 too high 17 
YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45)
wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 
Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 19 
Flamingo 800K+ · 4.2★ (121) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Mail Queue 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑2 10 too high 23 
Royal Mail Shipping Calculator for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
More Mails for CF7 500+ · 4.7★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #21 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.