Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “market”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 7 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

Stock Market Overview shows at wp.org #2 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 1940 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too low 5 Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #9 ↑4 4 too low 6 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #11 ↑3 5 too low 7 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #16 ↑2 8 too low 9 Stock Market Ticker 2K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #3 ↑1 6 too high 10 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #5 ↑10 5 too high 11 Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #13 ↓3 2 too low 12 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #18 ↑2 1 too high 20 Market Exporter 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too high 21 Stock Market Overview 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 ↑1 19 too high 22 Stock market charts from finviz 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 16 too high 23 Welcart e-Commerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 Stock Market News 400+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 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.