wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plans”
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 “plans”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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
Bible Reading Plans shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #1 ↑22 2 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Pricing Table by Supsystic – Responsive Pricing Plans & Comparison Tables 10K+ · 4.1★ (288)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244)
wp.org #17 ↓3 7 too low 11 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓4 4 too low 12 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↓5 2 too high 15 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #24 9 too low 16 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #23 6 too low 18 
Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↓4 3 too low 19 
Sublium Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Recurring Payments, Subscription Plans & Installments 700+ · 5.0★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑1 10 too high 20 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Bible Reading Plans 100+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 16 too high 22 
Occupancy Plan 100+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 
Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 
Partial.ly Payment Plans 300+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑1 14 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.