Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 subdomains”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

WebToffee WP Backup and Migration shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 49 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

W3 Total Cache places #12 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #1 2 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #2 ↑5 1 too high 4 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Nginx Helper 200K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #21 ↑2 9 too low 13 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #20 ↓4 6 too low 15 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 WP Remote Users Sync 6K+ · 4.9★ (73) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 WebToffee WP Backup and Migration 5K+ · 4.5★ (49) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Lightweight Cookie Notice – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 AdOpt | Easy Multi-Regulations Cookie Banner. 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 ES Football Bypass for Cloudflare 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 IMPress for IDX Broker 7K+ · 3.1★ (34) wp.org #24 ↓4 1 too low 24 Podigee for WordPress: Podcast Episodes to Blog Posts 600+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #19 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.