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← Rankings

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

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 “onboarding”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

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

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 3992 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too high 6 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too low 8 Points Management System For Gamification, Ranks, Badges, and Loyalty Rewards Program – myCred 10K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #9 ↓7 1 too low 9 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 weDocs: AI Powered Knowledge Base, Docs, Documentation, Wiki & AI Chatbot 5K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #11 ↑3 1 too low 11 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (22) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too high 13 AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Return Refund and Exchange For WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 MWB HubSpot for WooCommerce – CRM, Abandoned Cart, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation & Analytics 6K+ · 3.8★ (55) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Thank You Page for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 Razorpay for WooCommerce 100K+ · 2.5★ (23) wp.org #7 ↑1 10 too high 18 Simple Tour Guide 200+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #21 ↑3 3 too low 19 WDesignKit – AI Templates, Widget Builder & MCP Workflow 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 RTMForm – Contact Form, Multi-Step Forms & Form Templates for Elementor 30K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 BeyondSEO – AI SEO to Improve Rankings, Listings & Online Visibility 20K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Oxicat Onboarding Tours 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Kanbanz 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 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.