wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “main wp”
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 “main wp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #1 2 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #3 4 
WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1139)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68)
wp.org #4 3 too high 8 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #8 9 
WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146)
wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 
WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215)
wp.org #9 ↓3 1 too high 11 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #11 ↓2 12 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #10 ↑11 2 too high 13 
Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252)
wp.org #13 14 
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #15 16 
WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565)
wp.org #17 ↓7 1 too low 17 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318)
wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275)
wp.org #16 ↑6 3 too high 20 
WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 
WP Force SSL & HTTPS SSL Redirect 80K+ · 4.7★ (179)
wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 
WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178)
wp.org #23 ↓3 24 
SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) host-installed base thin reviews
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.