wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “phrase”
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 “phrase”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Phrase TMS Integration for WordPress shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 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.
Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
ACF: Better Search 40K+ · 4.9★ (165)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472)
wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 
Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376)
wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 
Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266)
wp.org #13 ↑6 4 too low 10 
Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202)
wp.org #14 ↑10 4 too low 11 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #19 8 too low 12 
Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33)
wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13 
WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565)
wp.org #21 ↓5 8 too low 14 
wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390)
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40)
wp.org #15 16 Phrase TMS Integration for WordPress 100+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↓2 13 too high 17 
CM Search And Replace – Optimize content edits with a powerful search and replace tool 2K+ · 4.2★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #9 8 too high 18 
LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Mailchimp List Subscribe Form 60K+ · 2.6★ (77)
wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 
Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
AliNext – AliExpress Dropshipping Plugin for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.3★ (53)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Accessibility by UserWay 80K+ · 4.0★ (57)
wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 
Spam Protect for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.1★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 
BoldGrid Easy SEO – Simple and Effective SEO 40K+ · 3.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #18 6 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.