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

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 “plug”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

VK All in One Expansion Unit shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 245 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #1 2 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #5 6 Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #22 ↓3 14 too low 9 Event Organiser 20K+ · 4.6★ (140) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 L Login rebuilder 20K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #16 ↓5 4 too low 13 Cincopa video and media plug-in 1K+ · 2.8★ (26) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 XPoster – Share to Bluesky and Mastodon 10K+ · 3.8★ (69) wp.org #23 ↓3 9 too low 15 C Contact Form 7: Accessible Defaults 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 VK All in One Expansion Unit 100K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓2 10 too high 17 Mailgun for WordPress 80K+ · 3.8★ (49) wp.org #21 ↓4 4 too low 18 WP Duplicate Page 60K+ · 4.2★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓3 19 Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20 WSP MCP – Free MCP Plugin for WordPress: Connect Claude, ChatGPT & AI Agents 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Razorpay Payment Button Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 In3 On-site Messaging plug-in for WooCommerce 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓4 8 too high 23 Enable Drag and Drop on Adding Plugin Upload 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too high 24 Plug-N-Meet web conference integration 100+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 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.