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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “open box”

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 “open box”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

Open Graphite shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 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 Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #1 2 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #2 3 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Gallery Box 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 too high 20 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Open Close Store for WooCommerce – Business Hours & Order Scheduling 600+ · 3.4★ (41) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Open Graphite 3K+ · 3.3★ (8) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 Modal Popup Box — Popup Maker & Popup Builder 2K+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Advanced Marquee Effect for Elementor – Smooth Marquee, News Ticker, Image Box & Icon Box Marquee 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #22 2 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.