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← Rankings

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

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 “pirate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Hello Poppet shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10+ 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

CMB2 places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 91 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 Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress by PirateForms 30K+ · 4.7★ (223) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #2 3 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too low 5 Ebook Store 700+ · 4.4★ (60) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 All-in-one Like Widget 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #17 ↑1 10 too low 8 SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #21 ↑1 12 too low 10 Taxonomy Images 8K+ · 4.4★ (40) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 Mongoose Page Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #19 ↑2 8 too low 12 ES Football Bypass for Cloudflare 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↑1 7 too high 13 Popup Like box – Page Plugin 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↑1 6 too high 14 Route ‑ Shipping Protection 500+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Securicheck – Audit et Sécurité WordPress 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 7 too high 16 ProductDyno 60+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 Protección de datos – RGPD 7K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Simple Location 300+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓17 4 too low 19 CryptocurrencyCheckout Woocommerce Gateway 100+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Hello Poppet 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 11 too high 21 Remote Dashboard Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 MoonFarmer Reactions Lead Capture – Emoji Reactions, Feedback & Email Capture — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Oli Media Cleaner 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Contact Form Migrator from Pirate Forms to Formidable 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.