Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “order emails”

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 “order emails”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 8 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

Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 25 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 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 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce 100K+ · 5.0★ (350) wp.org #2 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Supplier Order Email 300+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #7 ↑5 8 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47) wp.org #10 11 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #24 ↓1 13 too low 12 Preview E-mails for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (85) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #5 ↓2 9 too high 15 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 WC Cancel Order 5K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Additional Custom Emails & Recipients for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Order Approval for Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (32) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Repeat Order for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #20 4 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.