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← Rankings

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

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 “netflix”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Shrinkify Image Compression shows at wp.org #7 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WpStream – Live Streaming, Video on Demand, Pay Per View places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 78 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Vimeography: Vimeo Video Gallery WordPress Plugin 5K+ · 4.5★ (122) wp.org #1 2 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Movie Engine – OTT Streaming Platform for Movies & TV Series 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Shoppable Social Media Galleries by Sauce 2K+ · 3.9★ (39) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 WpStream – Live Streaming, Video on Demand, Pay Per View 3K+ · 4.8★ (78) wp.org #20 ↓1 14 too low 7 SUBRE – Product Subscription for WooCommerce – Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 MAS Videos 1K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Persistent Login 5K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons 3K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 SQRL Login 90+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Movie Helper 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Instant Page Load – SPA Speed & Turbo Cache 20+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Video Share VOD – Turnkey Video Site Builder Script 60+ · 2.3★ (12) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Shrinkify Image Compression 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Yoppli Video Player Design — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 suchen.tv Streaming Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 VideoFlowEngine HLS Streaming — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 TurboVideo – Video Player and CDN — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 WP Videos 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Neykane Viral List Posts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 zTransitions Image Video Carousel Gallery — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 ContentKing for Conductor 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 SimpleSocial 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 2 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.