Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “percentage”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Discount Percentage Display for Woo shows at wp.org #1 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 23 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ 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 #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #16 ↑8 9 too low 8 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #14 ↓4 6 too low 9 Pay for Payment for WooCommerce – Payment Gateway Fees & Discounts 10K+ · 4.7★ (71) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #11 ↓3 12 Payment Gateway Based Fees and Discounts for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #8 ↑7 4 too high 13 Discount Rules for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1395) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Advanced Free Shipping for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.8★ (122) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Advanced Dynamic Pricing and Discount Rules for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #24 ↓10 7 too low 18 Say What? 40K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Extra Product Options For WooCommerce | Custom Product Addons and Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Bulk Price Update for Woocommerce 2K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #17 ↑3 4 too high 22 R Replace Percentage Badges Insted of Sales 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓2 13 too high 23 Percentage Coupon per Product for WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑5 16 too high 24 Discount Percentage Display for Woo 40+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #1 ↑1 23 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.