wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “notification plugin”
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 “notification plugin”, 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
Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #1 2 
WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131)
wp.org #2 3 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 4 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 
Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #11 5 too low 7 
Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #18 ↑2 9 too low 10 
Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71)
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #21 ↓3 8 too low 14 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↑4 1 too high 15 
Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726)
wp.org #23 8 too low 16 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 
Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 12 too high 18 
Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑2 8 too high 19 
Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 
Simple Login Notification 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 13 too high 22 
Block Plugin Update 5K+ · 4.4★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #22 23 
WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-currenthost-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #19 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.