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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “opt in”

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

Opt-Out for Google Analytics (DSGVO / GDPR) shows at wp.org #4 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 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 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #2 3 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #8 ↑2 4 too low 5 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #5 6 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #12 ↓4 6 too low 7 Double Opt-In for Contact Form 7 – Secure, GDPR-Compliant Email Verification 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #11 ↓9 3 too low 9 GAinWP Google Analytics Integration for WP 7K+ · 4.8★ (126) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #6 ↓2 4 too high 11 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #17 ↑4 4 too low 14 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Opt-Out for Google Analytics (DSGVO / GDPR) 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 ↑14 11 too high 16 Mailmunch Forms for Mailchimp 10K+ · 4.6★ (372) wp.org #16 ↓3 17 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #22 ↓5 5 too low 18 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #9 ↓3 11 too high 21 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Download After Email – Subscribe & Download Form Plugin 7K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓5 2 too high 23 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓3 11 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.