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

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 “ninja”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Security Ninja For MainWP shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400+ 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

MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1497 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #1 2 Ninja Tables – Easy Data Table Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #2 3 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #3 4 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #4 5 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #5 6 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #10 ↑7 2 too low 9 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #19 ↑1 10 too low 10 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 Integration for HubSpot and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 5K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Ninja Forms Views – Display & Edit Ninja Forms Submissions on your site frontend 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Integration for Mailchimp and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 8K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Integration for Pipedrive and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 WP Zoho for Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Formidable and Ninja Forms – CRM, Bigin 3K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 WP Duplicate Page 60K+ · 4.2★ (16) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 GDPR CCPA Compliance & Cookie Consent Banner 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Ninja Charts – Interactive Charts and Graphs 3K+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 Ninja Forms Signature Contract Add-On 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 Smart Phone Field For WPForms, Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, WooCommerce, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 GSheetConnector – Ninja Forms Google Sheets Connector, Export Form Submissions Instant Sync to Sheets 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 Security Ninja For MainWP 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 15 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.