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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “on demand”

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 “on demand”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 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

Yoycol: Print on demand shows at wp.org #2 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 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 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Real-Time Find and Replace 70K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #15 ↑5 9 too low 7 Hoplix Integration for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 WpStream – Live Streaming, Video on Demand, Pay Per View 3K+ · 4.8★ (78) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #14 ↑3 4 too low 11 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #22 ↓7 11 too low 12 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #19 ↑2 6 too low 14 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Qikink Print On Demand and DropShipping 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 CM Search And Replace – Optimize content edits with a powerful search and replace tool 2K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Printify for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.8★ (37) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 Yoycol: Print on demand 400+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #2 ↓1 18 too high 21 File Uploads Addon for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.7★ (27) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 Popcustoms – Print on demand & dropshipping, Free Personalizer 100+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Bookvault 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too high 24 Selfnamed: Private Label Cosmetics for WooCommerce 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓12 1 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.