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

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 “notch”, we agree with wp.org 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

Notch Pay shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 793 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #2 3 Simple Calendar – Google Calendar Plugin 50K+ · 3.8★ (397) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #12 ↑9 1 too low 12 Accessibility Widget by OneTap – Easy One-Click Accessibility Toolbar 60K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 WP Fusion Lite – Marketing Automation and CRM Integration for WordPress 4K+ · 5.0★ (69) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Product Labels For Woocommerce (Sale Badges) 10K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #13 ↑5 1 too high 15 WPtouch – Make your WordPress Website Mobile-Friendly 40K+ · 3.7★ (341) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #21 ↑2 5 too low 17 BTCPay Server – Accept Bitcoin payments in WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 Catch Web Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Canada Post Shipping For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.4★ (34) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↑1 12 too high 21 mPDF add-on for RTL and Unicode Support 4K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Notch Pay 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑5 15 too high 23 ELEX WordPress HelpDesk & Customer Ticketing System 200+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Charla Live Chat 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.