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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mandrill”

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 “mandrill”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Authority Mailer SMTP – WordPress SMTP Plugin with Email Logs shows at wp.org #12 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Booking Ultra Pro Appointments Booking Calendar Plugin places #6 on merit, 3.9★ from 231 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Booking Ultra Pro Appointments Booking Calendar Plugin 400+ · 3.9★ (231) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 WP Email Template 2K+ · 3.1★ (35) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #8 9 YITH WooCommerce Waitlist 3K+ · 3.2★ (26) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 DoubleScale CRM | All-in-One CRM – Sales, Multi-Channel Marketing, Newsletter, Booking, Helpdesk, Automation, MCP & More 80+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 11 GD Mail Queue 700+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 SendForce Mail SMTP Relay – SMTP and Email API 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 V Vibe BuddyPress Mails via WPMail 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 WP Mail Gateway 60+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓4 8 too low 15 Cybexsoft SMTP — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 PowerSuite Modular Admin Toolkit 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 D Dualsend SMTP Failover — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Authority Mailer SMTP – WordPress SMTP Plugin with Email Logs 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 SendGrail SMTP – Easy & Free Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Failover & Routing for Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES & Any SMTP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑5 3 too high 20 VuloMail – SMTP, Email Logs & SMS Notifications 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 SMTPPai – Multi Mail SMTP & API with Amazon SES & More 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 DeliveryKit SMTP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 LoginBerry – 2FA, Passwordless & Email Verification 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Easy Contact Form by LukaCodes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓4

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.