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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mark complete”

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 “mark complete”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Manual Completions for LearnDash shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 1282 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 2 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #15 ↓13 6 too low 10 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #24 ↓4 11 too low 14 StoreEngine — Complete eCommerce Solution with Memberships, Licensing, Affiliates & More 700+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #7 ↑8 7 too high 15 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #19 ↓6 4 too low 16 Fetchify 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑1 11 too high 17 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Search Insights – Privacy-Friendly Search Analytics 3K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 H Hotfix 4K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Lite LMS Progress Tracker by LifterLMS – Simple Course, Membership Site and Content Progress Tracking for WordPress 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 SEO’n’AI – AI Image check&mark 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 Manual Completions for LearnDash 200+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 Topic Progression Using Storyline/Captivate for LearnDash 400+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #23 24 Manual Completions TutorLMS 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 6 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.