Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multiple domains”

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 “multiple domains”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

WC Multiple Email Recipients shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #1 ↑7 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too low 5 M Multiple Roles 5K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too low 11 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #18 ↑4 6 too low 13 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 WC Multiple Email Recipients 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Multiple Post Passwords 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓2 8 too high 17 Wishlist for WooCommerce: Multiple Wishlists per Customer 2K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Maximum, Minimum and Multiple Quantity for WooCommerce Shops 3K+ · 4.4★ (36) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Domain For Sale – Landing Page Per Domain, Domain Mapping, Offers & Listings 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Each domain a page 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #22 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.