wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “many”
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 “many”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 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
Simple Custom CSS and JS shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 600K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 104 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) low rating, top placement
wp.org #1 2 
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012)
wp.org #2 3 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101)
wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too high 8 
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 #8 ↑2 9 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too high 11 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #12 ↑3 1 too low 12 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too high 13 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #13 ↑1 14 
AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114)
wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 
Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447)
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158)
wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 
Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428)
wp.org #21 ↑2 3 too low 19 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #19 3 too high 23 
Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139)
wp.org #23 24 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104)
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.