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

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 “patience”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

WinaltChat for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its — 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

kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks places #7 on merit, 3.9★ from 171 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #1 2 Art WooCommerce Order One Click 4K+ · 5.0★ (36) wp.org #2 3 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Banner Management For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 W WP Auto Updater 7K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #22 15 too low 8 Checkout Location Picker for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #8 9 Ultimate Category Excluder 50K+ · 4.3★ (78) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 Name Your Price: Make Your Own Offer for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Testimonial Slider – Free Testimonials Slider Plugin 700+ · 4.1★ (27) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Ajax loader + Cache 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 E Editor Bridge 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 B Back to the Top 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 C Custom Post Type Widget Blocks 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Solitaire Games: Klondike, FreeCell, Spider and Mahjong — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 W WP Is Mobile Text Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 DadsFam Cache 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 N Nav Menu Trim — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 B Better Website Performance — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Babelbeez Voice AI — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Digages Restock Alert — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 ThimPress AI Chatbot with Chatboz — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 WinaltChat for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 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.