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

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 “peace”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

Australia Post WooCommerce Extension shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 19 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms places #12 on merit, 4.4★ from 433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2

Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Database Backup for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (66) wp.org #5 2 too high 8

MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #12 ↑6 4 too low 9

Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10

Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too high 11

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13

iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more 200K+ · 4.7★ (397) wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14

Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule 10K+ · 4.0★ (128) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15

NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16

Australia Post WooCommerce Extension 3K+ · 4.4★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17

SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #17 18

PlugVersions – Easily roll back to previous versions of your plugins. 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #11 7 too high 19

Revolut Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 3.2★ (45) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20

Mediamatic – Media Library Folders 1K+ · 3.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21

Force Reinstall 2K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too high 22

Persistent Login 5K+ · 3.9★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 3 too high 23

FastBots 1K+ · 4.5★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24

Tilopay 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 4 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.