wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “our services”
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 “our services”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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
Services Section Block – present your services in clean grids and columns shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #2 3 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #6 3 too low 4 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #8 9 
Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775)
wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #13 ↑3 3 too low 11 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #15 ↑3 4 too low 12 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #14 ↓2 15 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #17 ↑4 1 too low 17 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668)
wp.org #20 3 too low 18 
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 
WooCommerce Tax (formerly WooCommerce Shipping & Tax) 500K+ · 2.0★ (105) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 ↑1 16 too high 20 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Services Section Block – present your services in clean grids and columns 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↓1 17 too high 22 
Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
Service Box Slider 400+ · 0.0★ (0) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑3 11 too high 24 
Service Showcase 800+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.