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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multi domain”

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 “multi domain”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Domain Search for WHMCS shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #2 3 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #8 ↑2 4 too low 5 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) wp.org #3 ↓2 5 too high 9 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #11 ↑3 2 too low 10 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #13 ↑7 3 too low 11 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too low 13 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #19 ↓8 4 too low 16 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 WP Multi Network 100+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too high 20 AdOpt | Easy Multi-Regulations Cookie Banner. 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too high 21 Multi Location Product & Inventory Management for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 Domain Search for WHMCS 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 Multi Site Post Publisher 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 ReachShip WooCommerce Multi-Carrier & Conditional Shipping 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 14 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.