Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “network active”

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 “network active”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 617 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 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 #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too low 11 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #10 ↑4 2 too high 13 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too low 20 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #20 21 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #14 ↓3 8 too high 23 ZenCommunity – Community, Forum, Social Network, Chat & Support Tickets 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Portugal DPD Pickup and Lockers network for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓3 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.