wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multiple emails”
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 emails”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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
Address Book & Multiple Shipping for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 20 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 859 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
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 #3 1 too low 3 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
WC Multiple Email Recipients 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #9 4 too low 6 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #6 7 
Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #4 3 too high 8 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #10 2 too low 9 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169)
wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 
Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244)
wp.org #24 11 too low 14 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 
YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291)
wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 M Multiple Roles 5K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #7 11 too high 19 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too high 20 
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 8 too high 21 
Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47)
wp.org #14 7 too high 22 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Address Book & Multiple Shipping for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (20) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #11 12 too high 24 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑1 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.