wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page performance”
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 performance”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Solid Performance – Your No-Code Caching, Performance, & Page Speed Solution shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
LiteSpeed Cache places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2778 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Performance Lab 100K+ · 4.3★ (51)
wp.org #2 ↑2 2 too high 5 
Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612)
wp.org #9 ↑6 2 too low 8 
Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285)
wp.org #10 ↓3 2 too low 9 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too high 10 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 
WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339)
wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 
Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124)
wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14 
Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too high 15 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
Landing Page Builder – Coming Soon page, Maintenance Mode, Lead Page, WordPress Landing Pages 8K+ · 4.6★ (202)
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271)
wp.org #22 ↓5 5 too low 18 
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 
Swift Performance Lite 6K+ · 3.6★ (125) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑3 3 too high 20 
Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base
wp.org #17 ↑3 4 too high 22 Solid Performance – Your No-Code Caching, Performance, & Page Speed Solution 4K+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑1 15 too high 23 
Optimization Detective 60K+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #23 24 P Page Optimize 200K+ · 3.0★ (5) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓2 12 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.