Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “playing cards”

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 “playing cards”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 142 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 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Vimeography: Vimeo Video Gallery WordPress Plugin 5K+ · 4.5★ (122) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 PW WooCommerce Exclude Free Shipping 1K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes 10K+ · 4.8★ (393) wp.org #15 ↓2 9 too low 7 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 GutSlider – All in One Slider and Carousel Blocks for Gutenberg 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #18 ↓3 8 too low 11 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #21 ↓2 10 too low 12 AnWP Football Leagues 700+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too high 13 Gutenslider — Slider Block for the Block Editor 10K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #13 14 Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 Sugar Calendar – Events Calendar, Event Tickets, and Events Management Platform 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too high 16 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #7 ↓2 9 too high 17 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too high 18 Video Player for YouTube – Embed Videos Your Visitors Will Love to Watch 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 SaveTo Wishlist Lite – WooCommerce Wishlist 500+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 bSlider – Build Sliders That Bring Your Content to Life 5K+ · 4.0★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 Accessible Carousel & Slider – WCAG AA Compliant Slideshow 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓4 1 too low 22 QPMN POD by QP Group 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓4 6 too high 23 DaazSync – RSS News Aggregator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too high 24 European School Radio Widget Block 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.