wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “make wordpress”

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 wordpress”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 3

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #8 1 too low 8

Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #4 4 too high 9

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too high 11

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #14 ↑8 2 too low 13

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15

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 #20 ↓2 5 too low 16

Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too high 17

Make Tables Responsive 6K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #12 5 too high 18

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21

FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #19 ↑2 2 too high 22

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #22 ↓2 23

Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #13 10 too high 24

Make Connector 70K+ · 2.7★ (25) wp.org #16 8 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.