Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 now”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Open Graphite shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 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

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #1 2 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #2 3 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #12 ↑2 7 too low 6 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #19 ↓1 10 too low 10 WPC Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too high 15 External Links in New Window / New Tab 30K+ · 4.5★ (77) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Mobile Call Now & Map Buttons 4K+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Open Graph 10K+ · 4.3★ (13) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 Always Use Open Graph with Jetpack 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Easy PayPal & Stripe Buy Now Button 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Open Close Store for WooCommerce – Business Hours & Order Scheduling 600+ · 3.4★ (41) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Open Graphite 3K+ · 3.3★ (8) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #22 23 Open Accessibility 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 Codeideal Open Fields 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↑1 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.