Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “nets”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Payment Gateway for PhonePe and for Woocommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 800+ 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

UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 309 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 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WPSSO Core – Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags 4K+ · 4.6★ (306) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #6 ↓3 3 too low 4 PW WooCommerce Bulk Edit 20K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) wp.org #20 12 too low 9 Survey Maker by AYS 5K+ · 4.8★ (79) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 PW WooCommerce Gift Cards 20K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Nexi Checkout 2K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #2 ↓1 10 too high 13 WPSSO Schema Product Metadata for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 APCu Manager 10K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Barion Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Affiliates WooCommerce Light 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Crowdsignal Dashboard – Polls, Surveys & more 200K+ · 2.7★ (34) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 WebwinkelKeur: Webshop keurmerk & reviews for WordPress 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 WooCommerce Analytics 20K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Razorpay for WooCommerce 100K+ · 2.5★ (23) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 PhonePe Payment Solutions 10K+ · 2.6★ (11) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Payment Gateway for PhonePe and for Woocommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 The Word Widget 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Bayarcash WooCommerce 700+ · 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.