wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin only”
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 only”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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
Plugin Check (PCP) shows at wp.org #17 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 36 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 too high 8 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too high 11 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #11 ↑4 12 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #12 ↓3 13 
Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227)
wp.org #13 14 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #16 17 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #24 ↓4 7 too low 18 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too high 19 
Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62)
wp.org #19 ↓2 20 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #18 ↓7 2 too high 21 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 
WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 
Plugin Groups 1K+ · 4.3★ (31)
wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.