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← Rankings

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

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 “measure”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Google for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 268 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 399 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 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 U Unit Of Measure (UOM) for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 ↑4 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #4 ↑4 5 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #5 6 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #8 ↑2 9 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #19 ↑3 9 too low 11 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #24 ↓3 13 too low 12 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (22) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Mailchimp for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.0★ (726) wp.org #23 ↓7 8 too low 16 Hosting Benchmark tool 4K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Meta pixel for WordPress 400K+ · 2.7★ (164) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Flexible Quantity & Price Calculator for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #10 ↓7 9 too high 20 SEO SIMPLE PACK 100K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #20 21 Booter – Bots & Crawlers Manager 7K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23 TikTok 200K+ · 1.8★ (39) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too high 24 Reddit for WooCommerce 90K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.