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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “news api”

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 “news api”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

SteadFast API shows at wp.org #2 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

New User Approve places #12 on merit, 4.3★ from 131 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too low 2 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #4 ↑7 2 too low 3 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #3 4 API KEY for Google Maps 30K+ · 4.9★ (55) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Ditty – Responsive News Tickers, Sliders, and Lists 30K+ · 4.6★ (106) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #14 ↓4 8 too low 7 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too low 8 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 8 too high 10 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 WP Top News — Build a Complete News Portal in WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↑7 3 too high 12 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Datafeedr API 4K+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15 WP API SwaggerUI 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 SteadFast API 8K+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #2 15 too high 18 Publish To Apple News 4K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 Custom API for WP 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 R REST API Log 5K+ · 3.6★ (24) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 JSON API Auth 600+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) 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.