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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin backup”

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

Royal WordPress Backup, Restore & Migration Plugin – Backup WordPress Sites Safely shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #1 2 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 WP Database Backup – Unlimited Database & Files Backup by Backup for WP 20K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #11 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #22 ↑2 10 too low 13 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #13 ↑4 14 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid 40K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 Database Backup for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (66) wp.org #18 19 Royal WordPress Backup, Restore & Migration Plugin – Backup WordPress Sites Safely 30K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 Jetpack VaultPress Backup 20K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 Everest Backup – WordPress Cloud Backup, Migration, Restore & Cloning Plugin 3K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Backup Bolt – Lightweight Backup, Fast WordPress Backup to ZIP 800+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 WPvivid Backup for MainWP 10K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #20 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.