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

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 “manually”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

eRecht24 Legal Texts shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 50K+ 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

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #1 2

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #5 3 too low 3

bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #6 ↑5 2 too low 5

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7

Manually Approved Reviews for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.3★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #2 5 too high 8

Imsanity 200K+ · 4.9★ (291) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #13 3 too low 11

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #24 12 too low 13

Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↑5 2 too high 14

Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #17 3 too low 15

Visualizer – Tables & Charts Manager with Built-in AI Generator 20K+ · 4.4★ (225) not PHP-current wp.org #14 1 too high 16

Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓10 4 too low 17

Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) not PHP-current wp.org #15 2 too high 18

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #19 ↑4 1 too low 19

Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too low 20

Log cleaner for Kadence Security 7K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑6 4 too high 21

Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↑6 4 too high 23

Simple Site Map Page 6K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 24

eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 17 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.