Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “playlists”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 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

Music Player for Elementor – Audio Player & Podcast Player places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 123 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Playlist & Video Grid 2K+ · 4.9★ (128) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 WP YouTube Lyte 20K+ · 4.8★ (206) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 Playlist Player for YouTube – Fast, Privacy-Friendly Playlists & Channel Feed 1K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #5 ↑3 3 too high 9 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Music Player for Elementor – Audio Player & Podcast Player 10K+ · 4.7★ (123) wp.org #19 ↓3 8 too low 12 AudioIgniter Music Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15 Super Video player – Fully Customizable Video Player with Playlist 2K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17 MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar 20K+ · 4.8★ (302) wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too low 18 Video Playlist for YouTube 1K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 Music Player for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #22 ↑1 3 too low 20 Gutenslider — Slider Block for the Block Editor 10K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #7 ↓1 14 too high 22 Vimeotheque – Vimeo WordPress Plugin & Video Gallery 2K+ · 4.6★ (26) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 FancyTube – Video Gallery, Video Slider, and Playlist Slider for YouTube 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 Embed Peertube Playlist 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.