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

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 “one”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

One Stop Shop for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 7520 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 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #2 3 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 One Click Demo Import 1M+ · 4.3★ (79) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10 One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 One Click SSL 10K+ · 4.9★ (139) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Art WooCommerce Order One Click 4K+ · 5.0★ (36) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 O One Page Express Companion 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 One Stop Shop for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 VK All in One Expansion Unit 100K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 O One Time Login 40K+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.