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← Rankings

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

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 “places”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

Autocomplete Google places shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 Search in Place 3K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 ↑6 3 too low 9 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too low 10 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #16 ↓3 6 too low 11 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too high 12 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #12 ↑10 13 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 ↑4 4 too low 14 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Place Order Without Payment for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #22 ↓4 4 too low 19 Autocomplete Google places 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #21 ↓7 1 too low 21 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too high 23 CodePeople Post Map for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.2★ (31) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 WPSSO Schema Organization and Place Manager 300+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑3 10 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.