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

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 “phone”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 8 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

Softech Country Phone Validator shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Phone Orders for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Smart phone field for Gravity Forms 5K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too low 6 OTP Login With Phone Number, OTP Verification 1K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #5 ↓4 1 too high 7 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #20 12 too low 9 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #23 ↓4 14 too low 10 Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button 200K+ · 4.9★ (696) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #18 ↓2 7 too low 12 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 Phone Validator with Flags for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 CallRail Phone Call Tracking 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 F4 Shipping Phone and E-Mail for WooCommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Smart Phone Field For WPForms, Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, WooCommerce, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Byteplant Phone Validator 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Lead Generation Contact Widget & AI Chatbot: Chat Button, Phone Call, Telegram, Email – SiteLeads 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 Softech Country Phone Validator 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Phone Button 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Phone Validator for WPForms 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.