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← Rankings

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

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 “outgoing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Bit integrations – Form Integration, Webhook, Spreadsheets, CRM, LMS & Email Automation places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 160 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #1 2 WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 SMTP Mailer 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Change Admin Email 40K+ · 4.8★ (141) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 WP SMTP Mailer – SMTP7 8K+ · 5.0★ (115) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Email Log 80K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Gmail SMTP 10K+ · 4.1★ (103) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Bit integrations – Form Integration, Webhook, Spreadsheets, CRM, LMS & Email Automation 20K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Stop Emails 5K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Mail Queue 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Piraeus Bank WooCommerce Payment Gateway 3K+ · 3.9★ (35) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Emails Catch All 600+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #18 19 Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 RTMForm – Contact Form, Multi-Step Forms & Form Templates for Elementor 30K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Zoho ZeptoMail 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Disable Password Changed Admin Email 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 A Add Email Signature 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Contribuinte Checkout 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.