Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 source”, 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 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 Source Event Calendar shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Columns places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1652 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. 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 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #2 3 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #3 4 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #5 6 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #19 ↑1 10 too low 10 Donation Platform for WooCommerce: Fundraising & Donation Management 7K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too low 11 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #24 ↓2 13 too low 12 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 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 #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546) wp.org #21 ↓3 5 too low 17 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 Add as Preferred Source on Google 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Open Graph 10K+ · 4.3★ (13) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Data Source for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 Open Source Event Calendar 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 Open Graphite 3K+ · 3.3★ (8) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Open Accessibility 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 Codeideal Open Fields 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.