wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “network global posts”
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 global posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #5 6 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #7 ↑4 8 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too high 11 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #13 ↓5 2 too low 12 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 
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 #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 
Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217)
wp.org #15 ↑1 16 
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551)
wp.org #18 ↓5 1 too low 18 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #17 ↑3 1 too high 19 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #22 ↓5 2 too low 21 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑16 15 too high 22 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too high 23 
Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #21 2 too high 24 
affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.