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

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 “phrases”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Phrase TMS Integration for WordPress shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 200+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #2 3 ACF: Better Search 40K+ · 4.9★ (165) wp.org #3 4 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) wp.org #8 2 too high 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 2 too high 13 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Mailchimp List Subscribe Form 60K+ · 2.6★ (77) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #17 18 CM Search And Replace – Optimize content edits with a powerful search and replace tool 2K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Phrase TMS Integration for WordPress 200+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Accessibility by UserWay 80K+ · 4.0★ (57) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Spam Protect for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 AliNext – AliExpress Dropshipping Plugin for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.3★ (53) wp.org #22 23 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 BoldGrid Easy SEO – Simple and Effective SEO 40K+ · 3.0★ (3) 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.