wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin meta data”
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 meta data”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Meta for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.1★ average from 481 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1268 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165)
wp.org #1 2 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252)
wp.org #4 5 
Head Meta Data 10K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #2 3 too high 6 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #6 ↑3 7 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 
wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449)
wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #10 ↑2 11 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ · 4.2★ (71)
wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too low 14 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #15 ↑6 16 
Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57)
wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #23 ↓7 6 too low 18 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too high 20 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 
Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227)
wp.org #21 ↑3 22 
MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter 900+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 
Post Meta Data Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481)
wp.org #14 10 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.