wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “placement test”
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 “placement test”, 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
IdiomIQ Adaptive Placement Test shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 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
AddToAny Share Buttons places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 1114 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #1 2 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #2 3 
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #6 3 too low 4 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564)
wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (584) low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 3 too high 7 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #9 ↑5 2 too low 8 
FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #8 9 
SMTP2GO for WordPress – Email Made Easy 40K+ · 5.0★ (67)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 
Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) low rating, top placement
wp.org #4 6 too high 11 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114)
wp.org #18 ↓1 7 too low 12 
Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139)
wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 
CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #22 ↓3 9 too low 14 
ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830)
wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 
Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69)
wp.org #16 ↑5 1 too low 16 
Quick Adsense 20K+ · 3.9★ (74)
wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 
Ezoic 10K+ · 3.3★ (53)
wp.org #17 ↓1 18 
Save as PDF Plugin by PDFCrowd 1K+ · 4.1★ (27)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 
Zoho ZeptoMail 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 IdiomIQ Adaptive Placement Test 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement
wp.org #5 16 too high 22 
Add as Preferred Source on Google 900+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 
Sigmize: A/B Testing, Session Recordings, Heatmaps & Revenue Tracking for WooCommerce, SureCart & EDD 5K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 
In-feed ads for Google AdSense 6K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓2 12 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.