wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “parts”
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 “parts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Page Parts shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #8 4 too low 5 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #7 ↑7 2 too low 6 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 
Content Parts 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #1 10 too high 12 
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 13 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too low 14 
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #15 ↓8 1 too high 17 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #21 4 too low 18 
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177)
wp.org #9 ↑4 9 too high 19 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 
Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84)
wp.org #20 21 
ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
iQ Block Country 20K+ · 3.9★ (166)
wp.org #22 ↓1 23 
Design Import/Export – Styles, Templates, Template Parts and Patterns 200+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Page Parts 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #5 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.