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

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 smtp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Pro Mail SMTP shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #3 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #1 2 SAR Friendly SMTP 2K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #2 3 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #4 5 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too high 7 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #11 ↑3 4 too low 8 Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress by PirateForms 30K+ · 4.7★ (223) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (808) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Bit SMTP – Easy SMTP Solution with Email Logs 2K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #15 ↑4 3 too low 13 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #19 ↑2 6 too low 14 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 RTMForm – Contact Form, Multi-Step Forms & Form Templates for Elementor 30K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 too high 16 Funnelforms Free – Multi Step Form, Contact Form & Lead Funnel Builder 1K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 SureContact – Newsletters, Email Marketing, Automation, Revenue Tracking & CRM 10K+ · 4.8★ (21) wp.org #23 ↓3 6 too low 18 Pro Mail SMTP 300+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Gutena Forms – Contact Form, Survey Form, Feedback Form, Booking Form, and Custom Form Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 Two Factor (2FA) Authentication via Email 9K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 Pinny's Multi Admin – Add Multiple Admin Emails 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 King SMTP – Email Log & Delivery 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓7 2 too high 23 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Authority Mailer SMTP – WordPress SMTP Plugin with Email Logs 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 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.