wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “make”
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 “make”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.
Ranked above its merit
Make Connector shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 25 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #1 ↑10 2 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5210)
wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 
Make Tables Responsive 6K+ · 5.0★ (34)
wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too low 10 
Divi Carousel Lite – Make Carousels for Divi 5 30K+ · 4.8★ (146)
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too low 13 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 
Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 
WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356)
wp.org #22 6 too low 17 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Bangladeshi Payment Gateways – Make Payment Using QR Code 4K+ · 5.0★ (92)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 
My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82)
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 
Year Make Model Search for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (34)
wp.org #20 ↓6 21 Make Connector 70K+ · 2.7★ (25)
wp.org #7 ↓2 14 too high 22 
Ultimate Floating Widgets – Make popup sidebars 3K+ · 4.9★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too high 23 
Make Disable Admin Email Verification Prompt 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑2 12 too high 24 
Swipe Slider – Make dynamic slider with solid, gradient, or image background 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.