wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “mobile push”

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 push”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications shows at wp.org #3 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 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 signals wp.org

OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

WP Mobile Menu – The Mobile-Friendly Responsive Menu 70K+ · 4.7★ (256) wp.org #2 3

AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) heavy footprint wp.org #4 1 too low 4

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6

Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑5 2 too low 7

Page Speed Optimizer: HTTP/2 Push, Async JavaScript, and Defer CSS 6K+ · 4.7★ (64) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8

Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #13 ↓4 5 too low 9

Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #11 2 too low 10

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #22 12 too low 11

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #24 ↓5 13 too low 12

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #18 ↑3 6 too low 13

Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #3 10 too high 14

ShiftNav – Responsive Mobile Menu 10K+ · 4.6★ (68) wp.org #20 6 too low 15

SendPulse Free Web Push 500+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16

Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #14 2 too high 17

PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #15 2 too high 18

iZooto – Web Push Notifications 900+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #10 8 too high 19

INDIGITALL – Instant Chat, Web Push Notifications 90+ · 4.8★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #16 3 too high 20

PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #12 8 too high 21

Klaviyo 100K+ · 2.8★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑1 22

Mobile App Canvas – Convert your Website Into an App for iOS and Android 200+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #17 5 too high 23

Web Push Notifications by Aimtell 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24

Ultimate Push Notifications 50+ · 3.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 1 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.