wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “migrate wordpress”
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 “migrate wordpress”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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
FooGallery Migrate shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 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.
Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #2 3 
Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338)
wp.org #3 4 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056)
wp.org #10 ↓3 3 too low 8 
Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135)
wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too high 9 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too high 11 
FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 
WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #14 ↑3 1 too low 14 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 2 too high 15 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Prime Mover – Backup and Migration 10K+ · 5.0★ (141)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 
Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid 40K+ · 4.8★ (442) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↓2 18 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Everest Backup – WordPress Cloud Backup, Migration, Restore & Cloning Plugin 3K+ · 4.4★ (45)
wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 
Royal WordPress Backup, Restore & Migration Plugin – Backup WordPress Sites Safely 30K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too low 21 
Migrate To Liquid Web & Nexcess 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 
Migrate to WordPress.com 2K+ · 4.7★ (9) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 23 FooGallery Migrate 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 
W2S – Migrate WooCommerce to Shopify 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 5 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.