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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multisite”

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 “multisite”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Ultimate Multisite – WordPress Multisite SaaS & WaaS Platform shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 11 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 #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #1 2 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #2 3 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 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 #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #9 ↑4 3 too low 7 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too high 8 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279) wp.org #10 11 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #15 ↑5 4 too low 12 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #16 ↑3 4 too low 13 D Dropdown Multisite Selector 900+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #24 ↓15 7 too low 18 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too low 20 Ultimate Multisite – WordPress Multisite SaaS & WaaS Platform 90+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 WP Multisite Content Copier/Updater 700+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 WP Multisite User Sync/Unsync 600+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too high 23 Multisite Custom CSS 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 ↑3 4 too high 24 Multisite Site Index 100+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #20 ↑3 4 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.