wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “office”
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 “office”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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
GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 820 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.
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #3 ↓2 4 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #4 5 
Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406)
wp.org #5 6 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 
Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006)
wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 
Document Viewer – let visitors view files right in the browser 2K+ · 4.7★ (52)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155)
wp.org #12 ↑9 3 too low 10 
Embed Any Document – Embed PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel Files 50K+ · 4.2★ (92)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (820)
wp.org #18 ↑2 7 too low 12 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 
MapPress – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap & Leaflet 30K+ · 4.7★ (147)
wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too low 14 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #20 ↑4 6 too low 15 M Mammoth .docx converter 20K+ · 4.8★ (62)
wp.org #15 ↓1 16 
OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327)
wp.org #22 ↓5 6 too low 17 
Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251)
wp.org #21 4 too low 18 
WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19 
Agile Store Locator 10K+ · 4.9★ (59) not PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 
WP Simple Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.8★ (227) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓3 1 too high 21 
YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Colissimo shipping methods for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.7★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓7 8 too high 23 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑2 12 too high 24 
Visitor Management System – Office Visitor Check-In Logbook 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 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.