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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pass”

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 “pass”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

CommerceBird – Wallet Pass for Tickera shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 10+ 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

Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 1282 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #1 2 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #14 ↑4 7 too low 8 HD Quiz 6K+ · 4.9★ (145) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #11 12 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #19 ↓2 7 too low 13 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #9 ↓3 4 too high 14 URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Alt Text AI – Automatically generate image alt text for SEO and accessibility 20K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Kama Thumbnail 8K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #17 18 Kama SpamBlock 4K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 Better image sizes 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 WP All Import – Import Add-On for ACF 50K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Successful Redirection for Contact Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 CommerceBird – Wallet Pass for Tickera 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑2 17 too high 24 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO 6K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 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.