wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin editor”
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 editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 4 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
Snow Monkey Editor shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251)
wp.org #1 2 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #2 3 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #3 4 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #6 ↑3 7 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 
Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354)
wp.org #9 ↓6 1 too low 9 
Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #7 ↑4 2 too high 10 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #11 ↓4 1 too low 11 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 
WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95)
wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too low 13 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #16 3 too low 14 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #23 9 too low 15 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #12 ↑11 3 too high 16 
HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110)
wp.org #15 1 too high 17 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Theme Editor 50K+ · 4.6★ (128)
wp.org #19 ↓6 1 too low 19 
BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 
Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit Htaccess File 40K+ · 5.0★ (102)
wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too low 21 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑6 3 too high 22 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #22 ↓7 23 
Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓3 7 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.