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← Rankings

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

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 “mode”, 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

Coming Soon Maintenance Mode shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode places #10 on merit, 4.4★ from 440 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #1 2 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #2 3 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 ↑3 4 Slim Maintenance Mode 10K+ · 5.0★ (63) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #10 ↑4 5 too low 6 Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Under Construction, Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 10K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Maintenance Mode 8K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Minimal Coming Soon – Coming Soon Page 100K+ · 4.3★ (282) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 ELEX WooCommerce Catalog Mode 10K+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #12 ↑3 13 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #17 ↓7 4 too low 14 YITH WooCommerce Catalog Mode 60K+ · 3.7★ (45) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Dark Mode Toggle 2K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 DarkLooks – Dark Mode Switcher For WordPress 800+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Maintenance mode for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 WP Safe Mode 2K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Lite Maintenance Mode 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Holiday Mode for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 M Minimal Maintenance Mode 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 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.