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← Rankings

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

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 “meaning”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 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

GetPaid Stripe Payments shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

M

Buried gem

Mammoth .docx converter places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 62 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Advanced Free Shipping for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.8★ (122) wp.org #3 4 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 SEO WRITING – AI Writer for SEO & AI Search 20K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 SMTP2GO for WordPress – Email Made Easy 40K+ · 5.0★ (67) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 PW WooCommerce Gift Cards 20K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 M Mammoth .docx converter 20K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 AyeCode Connect 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↓1 8 too high 14 Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #20 ↑3 6 too low 15 Min Max Step Quantity Limits Manager for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #16 ↑6 1 too low 16 Fusion Page Builder 3K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 CoolClock 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 WP All Export – Product Export Add-On for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #21 ↑3 3 too low 19 WordLift – AI powered SEO – Schema 300+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #23 ↓8 4 too low 20 Database for Contact Form 7 7K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too high 21 Post Lockdown 1K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 E External Permalinks Redux 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Abbreviation Button for the Block Editor 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 GetPaid Stripe Payments 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.