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

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 times”, 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 Accessibility shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 50+ 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

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 8669 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27819) wp.org #1 2 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #2 3 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5018) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4825) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (5203) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2136) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5218) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8669) wp.org #17 ↓4 7 too low 11 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7509) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1660) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (407) wp.org #23 ↓3 8 too low 16 Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.2★ (232) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth 3M+ · 3.7★ (2407) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Open Close Store for WooCommerce – Business Hours & Order Scheduling 600+ · 3.4★ (41) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 Open Accessibility 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Open Graphite 3K+ · 3.3★ (8) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Open Source Event Calendar 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↑7 6 too high 23 Muslim Prayer Times 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 Codeideal Open Fields 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.