Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “manual”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 4 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

Clicks Manual Payment Gateways for Pakistan shows at wp.org #2 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ 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

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Manual Image Crop 7K+ · 4.1★ (56) wp.org #1 2 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #7 ↑3 5 too low 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 Manual Related Posts 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #10 ↑5 5 too low 6 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too low 7 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too low 9 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too high 11 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #18 ↑5 4 too low 15 Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Clicks Manual Payment Gateways for Pakistan 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 17 too high 20 Automated FedEx live/manual rates with shipping labels – HPOS supported 200+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Backend Payments for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Manual Completions for LearnDash 200+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 Manual Completions TutorLMS 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓6 10 too high 24 Rizentechno Manual Payment Methods for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.