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← Rankings

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

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 out”, 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

WP Consent API shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200K+ 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 #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 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 #6 ↓1 4 too low 3 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #10 4 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 Opt-Out for Google Analytics (DSGVO / GDPR) 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #2 ↑2 6 too high 9 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #19 ↑1 10 too low 10 Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too low 11 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #4 ↓2 7 too high 12 Stop User Enumeration 60K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #13 14 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #23 ↓2 9 too low 15 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #18 ↑6 2 too low 17 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #12 ↑3 5 too high 18 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #21 ↓8 3 too low 19 Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too high 23 AI Scrape Protect 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 13 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.