wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “more link”

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 “more link”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 7 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

Read More Excerpt Link shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 8708 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

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 ↑1 3 too high 6

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9

Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 2 too high 10

Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too low 11

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #24 ↓1 12 too low 13

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #21 8 too low 14

Load More Products for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (275) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 1 too high 15

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #15 ↑1 16

Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (151) wp.org #16 ↑1 17

Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #14 3 too high 18

Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19

Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20

Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #18 2 too high 21

Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24

VK Link Target Controller 30K+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.