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← Rankings

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

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

Flexible Invoices for WooCommerce – KSeF Add-on shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

YayCurrency – WooCommerce Multi-Currency Switcher places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 114 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Packlink PRO for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.4★ (263) wp.org #1 2 Weight Based Shipping for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.6★ (83) wp.org #2 3 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #3 4 Real Cookie Banner: GDPR & ePrivacy Cookie Consent 100K+ · 4.9★ (492) wp.org #12 ↑2 8 too low 5 Location Weather – WordPress Weather Forecast, Air Quality & Weather Widget 10K+ · 4.5★ (103) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 My Agile Privacy® – CMP, Cookie Consent & Privacy Tools 7K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Jetpack CRM – Clients, Leads, Invoices, Billing, Email Marketing, & Automation 30K+ · 4.3★ (152) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 DHL Shipping Germany for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.0★ (47) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 WP-Lister Lite for eBay 2K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 YayCurrency – WooCommerce Multi-Currency Switcher 7K+ · 4.8★ (114) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 International Telephone Input With Flags And Dial Codes 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Simple Shortcode for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #19 ↑1 7 too low 13 Trusty Whistleblowing Solution 400+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too low 14 Optima Express IDX 10K+ · 3.2★ (45) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 KSA National Address Validator 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 CHIP for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 ELEX WooCommerce Australia Post Shipping 200+ · 4.1★ (13) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 UPI QR Code Payment Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 Advanced Datepicker – Restrict Date for Elementor Forms 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too high 20 DPD Baltic Shipping 2K+ · 2.7★ (13) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Flexible Invoices for WooCommerce – KSeF Add-on 700+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 12 too high 22 SmartQR Payment Gateway for BanglaQR 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Wawp Country Code & Chat Widget for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 HT Security 100+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.