Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “npm”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

SimplyBook.me – Booking and reservations calendar shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 391 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #1 2 Waymark 900+ · 5.0★ (54) wp.org #2 3 U Unique Headers 10K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #4 5 Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Better Font Awesome 60K+ · 4.5★ (88) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #17 ↓1 9 too low 9 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Tableberg – Simple Gutenberg Table Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 CF7 Mate – Contact Form 7 Styler, Multi-Step Forms & Conditional Logic 20K+ · 3.9★ (46) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 NextGenThemes jsDelivr CDN 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Gutenslider — Slider Block for the Block Editor 10K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 Ajaxified Cart 300+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Reddit for WooCommerce 90K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 Faust.js 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 CTC Masonry Gallery 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Subtle Icons – SVG Icon Block Suite, Icon Picker & ACF Field 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 WBD Logo Carousel For Gutenberg 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 GoCardless for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 RoleMaster Suite – User Role Editor for E-Commerce, Membership & Admin Panel 700+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 SimplyBook.me – Booking and reservations calendar 30K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #6 18 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.