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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “meta generator”

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 “meta generator”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Remove Meta Generators shows at wp.org #2 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ 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

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Meta Generator and Version Info Remover 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #4 5 Kaya QR Code Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Easy Auto SKU Generator for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (272) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #7 8 Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) wp.org #8 9 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 PDF Generator for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (39) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #24 ↓3 12 too low 13 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 Barcode Generator: Print Product Labels & Order Barcode Label (A4, Thermal/Roll, Letter) 900+ · 4.5★ (74) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Sitemap Generator 3K+ · 3.7★ (23) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Serial Codes Generator and Validator with WooCommerce Support 700+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 Remove Meta Generators 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 17 too high 20 BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 AI Auto Post & Image Generator 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Auto LLMS (.txt) Generator 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑4 10 too high 23 R Remove WordPress Version – Hide Generator Meta Tag 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 CartLink Generator for WooCommerce — Direct Checkout & Share Cart Links 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.