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← Rankings

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

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 “networks”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Google for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 268 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster 20K+ · 3.3★ (617) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 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 1 too low 7 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #15 ↓5 4 too low 12 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too low 13 Scriptless Social Sharing 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #23 ↓7 7 too low 17 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too low 22 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #8 ↓5 14 too high 23 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too high 24 Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 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.