wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “native app plugin”
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 “native app plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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
App Builder – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Flight shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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★ (8709)
wp.org #1 2 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #2 3 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #7 8 
LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597)
wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10 
AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874)
wp.org #17 ↑4 7 too low 11 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 
Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225)
wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 
CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #20 ↓5 7 too low 14 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #18 ↑6 4 too low 15 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 
PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230)
wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 App Builder – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Flight 500+ · 3.9★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #4 13 too high 18 
App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 
AppMySite – WordPress & WooCommerce Mobile App Builder (No-Code Android & iOS App Maker) 7K+ · 4.3★ (138)
wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20 
WappPress – Convert Site to App Fast – WordPress to Mobile App Builder 1K+ · 3.6★ (39)
wp.org #14 6 too high 21 
Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29)
wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 
Mobile App Canvas – Convert your Website Into an App for iOS and Android 200+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 
MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 
Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.