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← Rankings

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

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 “playable”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 2 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

Remixd Voice shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #1 2 My YouTube Channel 5K+ · 4.4★ (39) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 PuzzleMe – Interactive Puzzles for WordPress – Easily publish crosswords, quizzes, word searches and more 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 KBucket: Your Curated Content in WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Cliptakes 40+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Ultra Addons Lite for Elementor 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Blocks for Bandcamp 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 Solitaire Games: Klondike, FreeCell, Spider and Mahjong — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Pong Block 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Ace Tic Tac Toe 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Platinium EPG for XMLTV and M3U 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Snake Retro Game Shortcode by Eskim 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Orbem Studio — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Plays Games Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 EV Puzzles 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Lobby Tools — Missed-Call Calculator, Receptionist Quiz & Hold Music — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Mikhailkyrychenko Discount Battle Game for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 NOW Finance Social Content Importer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Voicgen – AI Text to Speech & Media Player — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 ListenUp 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 AMG Labs DOS Apps — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Shortcode Arcade Crypto Idle Game — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Remixd Voice 20+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 9 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.