Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 checker”, we and wp.org disagree 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.

A

Ranked above its merit

Autoload Checker shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1221 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 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 ↑4 6 too low 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #16 ↑3 9 too low 8 Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Plugin Compatibility Checker 9K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 too high 10 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts 200K+ · 5.0★ (1221) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 A Autoload Checker 3K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 Unique Title Checker 900+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Editoria11y Accessibility Checker 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↑2 10 too high 19 Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 PHP Compatibility Checker 200K+ · 2.7★ (131) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 iNext Woo Pincode Checker 600+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too high 23 BD Courier Order Ratio Checker 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 Unused Media Checker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.