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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page template”

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 template”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

WP Duplicate Page shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #2 3 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #3 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 5 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #5 6 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Show Current Template 100K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 ↑10 1 too high 10 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Templately – Elementor & Gutenberg Template Library: 6500+ Free & Pro Ready Templates And Cloud! 300K+ · 5.0★ (383) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 Landing Page Builder – Coming Soon page, Maintenance Mode, Lead Page, WordPress Landing Pages 8K+ · 4.6★ (202) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #18 ↓6 1 too low 18 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Custom Field Template 30K+ · 4.0★ (24) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 WP Duplicate Page 60K+ · 4.2★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Mailonix – Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (105) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 WPZOOM Addons for Elementor – Starter Templates & Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓3 7 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.