wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mobile notification”
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 “mobile notification”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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
Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #2 3 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #5 ↓4 2 too low 4 
Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #1 ↑2 3 too high 5 
My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199)
wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too low 6 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #16 10 too low 7 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↑9 3 too low 8 
Order On Mobile for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (66)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 
Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #21 11 too low 11 
HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38)
wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 
OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↓1 13 
Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #7 6 too high 14 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 
Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↑1 12 too high 17 
Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 
Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154)
wp.org #24 ↓7 6 too low 19 
WP Notification Bell 700+ · 4.9★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑7 6 too high 20 
PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29)
wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 
Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Order on Mobile for WooCommerce 7K+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓3 11 too high 23 
Publish Post Email Notification 600+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #17 6 too high 24 
WPC Smart Notifications for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓3 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.