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

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 “maze”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

FillKite – Contact Form Builder with Conditional Logic & Lead Inbox shows at wp.org #14 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its — 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

Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools places #4 on merit, 4.6★ from 535 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 wp.org
1 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Buzzsprout Podcasting 5K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 4 Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools 30K+ · 4.6★ (535) wp.org #24 ↓1 20 too low 5 J JTZL's Bot Maze 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Power Coupons for WooCommerce 30K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Easy Popups – Simple Popup Builder for Lead Capture & Announcements 30+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #7 8 Notifal – AI Popup Builder & CRO Engine: Sales Notifications, Social Proof & Exit Intent Popups 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Laoutaris Maze Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 EPFolio – Explorer Portfolio Kit — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 CaptchaKit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 HaywoodTech Conditional Shipping for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Consentify: Cookie Banner & GDPR Cookie Consent — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 P Product Table for Elementor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Kabook Rebuy Discount — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 Duolangue — Lightweight Bilingual — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 DMValdez Semantic Engine — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 SML Sentinel — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 FillKite – Contact Form Builder with Conditional Logic & Lead Inbox — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 WunderPaint – The Dynamic Design and Automation Studio 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Adler Business Directory – Business, Member, Staff & Community Directory — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Cardea – Proof-of-Work Comment Spam Protection — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Website Analytics by YEB — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Edminboost – Admin white label, Menu Editor, theme, topbar shortcuts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.