Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “person”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 6 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

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #4 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 700K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 237 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Temporary Login Without Password places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 1549 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (524) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 too high 16 WP Dashboard Notes 20K+ · 4.6★ (110) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 U Upload Larger Plugins 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Easy SVG Support 40K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 PayPal POS for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.5★ (21) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.