wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page creation”
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 “page creation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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
Duplicate Page and Post shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 29 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Brizy – Page Builder places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 972 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #2 3 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89)
wp.org #3 4 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #4 5 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #5 ↑3 6 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525)
wp.org #11 5 too low 7 
Landing Page Builder – Coming Soon page, Maintenance Mode, Lead Page, WordPress Landing Pages 8K+ · 4.6★ (202)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 
Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode Page & Under Construction 10K+ · 4.8★ (317)
wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 
Products Per Page for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #12 2 too low 11 
Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Brizy – Page Builder 60K+ · 4.7★ (972) not PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 
Mongoose Page Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (64)
wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too low 14 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #22 ↓3 8 too low 15 
Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) heavy footprint
wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 
Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) heavy footprint
wp.org #23 7 too low 17 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 8 too high 19 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too high 20 Duplicate Page and Post 70K+ · 4.6★ (29) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 
bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Event Single Page Builder For The Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.8★ (81) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 O One Page Express Companion 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 
Page and Post Restriction 1K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓5 3 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.