Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “php mailer”

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 “php mailer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Mailer Dragon – Email Marketing Plugin for WordPress shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Temporary Login Without Password places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1549 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 wp.org
1 SMTP Mailer 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #1 2 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #2 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 WPO365 | MICROSOFT 365 GRAPH MAILER 10K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Icegram Mailer – Reliable Email Deliverability, No-Code SMTP Replacement & Email Logs for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Stop WP Emails Going to Spam 10K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Zoho Mail for WordPress 20K+ · 3.7★ (42) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Zoho ZeptoMail 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Mailer Dragon – Email Marketing Plugin for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Oderland SMTP & Postal Mailer 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 A API Mailer for AWS SES 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑4 7 too high 22 Wonderful SMTP Mailer and Log 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 Export Mailer for Gravity Forms 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Authority Mailer SMTP – WordPress SMTP Plugin with Email Logs 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 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.