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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “partner content”

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 “partner content”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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

MSN Partner Hub shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 440 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #2 3 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #3 4 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Logo Slider WP – Responsive Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery & Logo Showcase 10K+ · 4.5★ (61) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Evergreen Content Poster – Auto Post and Schedule Your Best Content to Social Media 90+ · 4.1★ (13) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Microsoft Clarity 200K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 Accessibility by AllAccessible 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #19 ↑3 1 too high 21 Repeaterly – ACF Repeater, Flexible Content & Dynamic Tags for Elementor 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 JustWatch – Partner Integrations 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 Payment Gateway for Authorize.net for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 MSN Partner Hub 1K+ · 2.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 19 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.