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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “optimise”

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 “optimise”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Sopro shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 1488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 A AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild 30K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Brizy – Page Builder 60K+ · 4.7★ (972) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Meta pixel for WordPress 400K+ · 2.7★ (164) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 WP Super Minify • Minify, Compress and Cache HTML, CSS & JavaScript 8K+ · 4.1★ (73) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #18 ↑1 12 too low 7 Jetpack CRM – Clients, Leads, Invoices, Billing, Email Marketing, & Automation 30K+ · 4.3★ (152) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Affiliate Sales in Google Analytics and other tools 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Display Eventbrite Events 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #20 ↓5 11 too low 10 WP Compress for MainWP 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Persistent Login 6K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 CM Business Directory – Optimise and showcase local business 30+ · 3.9★ (11) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Tag Pilot FREE – Google Tag Manager Integration for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 ELEX WooCommerce USPS Shipping Method 800+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 AVIF Uploader – Upload, Display and Fix AVIF Images 4K+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 UniPixel: Meta, Pinterest, TikTok, Google & Microsoft Server-Side Tracking for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 EffortLess Simple Image Optimiser 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑2 8 too high 19 Sopro 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Snack Ads.txt 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 SMNTCS Deactivate Image Compression 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 AI Agent by SiteGround 1M+ · 1.7★ (98) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 JPEG PNG Compressor 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 Footprint – Find what slows your site 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.