wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pick”
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 “pick”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Image Picker For Gravity Forms shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 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.
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #1 2 
Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #3 ↑10 4 
Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763)
wp.org #6 ↓3 2 too low 5 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 
PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322)
wp.org #8 ↓3 1 too low 8 
Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too low 9 
Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59)
wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 
Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755)
wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 
ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679)
wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333)
wp.org #21 ↓10 9 too low 13 
Spotlight Social Photo Feed 60K+ · 4.7★ (171)
wp.org #12 ↓5 1 too high 14 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 
Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61)
wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too high 16 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) not PHP-current
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #22 3 too low 20 
Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51)
wp.org #20 ↓2 21 
Advanced Local Pickup for WooCommerce – Click & Collect, In-Store Pickup 3K+ · 4.7★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 Image Picker For Gravity Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 
Date Picker For Contact Form 7 4K+ · 3.9★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 8 too high 24 
Local Pickup for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.