Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “people”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Pinterest for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 68 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #3 4 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #5 ↑7 6 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #6 7 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑8 10 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too low 11 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #11 ↓6 2 too high 14 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19 Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) wp.org #8 ↑3 13 too high 22 Satispay for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #14 ↓4 9 too high 24 Microsoft Clarity 200K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.