wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multiple plugins”
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 plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
WC Multiple Email Recipients shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 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
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #5 ↑8 1 too low 5 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #7 ↑4 2 too low 6 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #6 ↑6 7 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #9 ↑8 2 too low 8 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #10 ↓4 2 too low 9 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #11 ↓4 2 too low 10 M Multiple Roles 5K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↑1 6 too high 11 
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114)
wp.org #12 ↑9 1 too low 12 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #18 ↓9 5 too low 14 
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012)
wp.org #13 ↑6 1 too high 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 ↓2 2 too low 16 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #16 ↓2 17 WC Multiple Email Recipients 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↑2 9 too high 18 
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 
MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71)
wp.org #19 ↓1 20 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 
Address Book & Multiple Shipping for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓6 7 too high 22 
Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48)
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.