Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “online”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 7 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

Colete-Online shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #2 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too low 4 Online Active Users 2K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #16 ↑7 8 too low 9 LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes 10K+ · 4.8★ (393) wp.org #13 ↓4 4 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #11 ↑5 1 too low 11 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #23 ↓4 12 too low 12 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #21 ↓7 8 too low 14 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Smart Online Order for Clover 1K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #17 ↓4 1 too low 17 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #14 ↑3 3 too high 18 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #22 ↓7 4 too low 19 MyWorks Sync for WooCommerce & QuickBooks Online 5K+ · 4.7★ (75) wp.org #19 ↓12 20 Food Online for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.1★ (26) wp.org #15 ↑6 5 too high 21 Sensei LMS – Online Courses, Quizzes, & Learning 9K+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Colete-Online 600+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #9 ↑1 13 too high 23 Worldline Online Checkout 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 Airwallex Online Payments Gateway 6K+ · 2.1★ (7) wp.org #20 4 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.