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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “oauth provider”

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 “oauth provider”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Rundiz OAuth shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ 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

AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7508) wp.org #1 2 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 7K+ · 4.9★ (324) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 WP OAuth Server ( Login with WordPress ) 1K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (407) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (5202) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (526) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress 90K+ · 4.9★ (869) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 WP OAuth Server (OAuth Authentication) 3K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #4 ↓1 4 too high 9 Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 10K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Connect Contact Form 7 to Mailchimp, Brevo, MailerLite & Klaviyo 40K+ · 4.2★ (191) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 SAML IDP (Identity Provider) – Login with Website Users 600+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 800+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #19 ↑2 5 too low 15 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI providers 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 ↑2 6 too high 16 Authorizer 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17 ThinkRank AI SEO – AI SEO Plugin for WordPress: Schema, XML Sitemaps, Meta Tags, Search Console & Local SEO 10K+ · 4.9★ (33) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too low 20 Flex MCP – Connect ChatGPT, Claude and AI agents with MCP, Undo, Abilities and Tools. 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 Rundiz OAuth 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 Agent Abilities for MCP – MCP Server with Permission Controls and Audit Log 500+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 AI Provider for ChatGPT 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.