Plugin Pulse Beta
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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin profiler”

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 profiler”, 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

Profiler Integration for Gravity Forms shows at wp.org #5 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

JCH Optimize places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 69 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 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #1 2 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too low 4 atec Cache APCu 3K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 F12 Profiler 400+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 atec Profiler 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Black Bar 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 WP SpeedUp 200+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #7 ↑5 1 too high 9 JCH Optimize 4K+ · 4.4★ (69) wp.org #21 ↓2 12 too low 10 Profiler Integration for Gravity Forms 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Scrutoscope – WordPress Performance Profiler 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 MITS Profiler — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Footprint – Find what slows your site 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Checkout Profiler for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 SitePulse – Performance Monitor, Safe Updates & Site Management 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Paul Bunyan 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Pagemeter 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Dragon Speed Doctor – Find What Slows Your Site Down — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 Advanced REST API DevTools 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 AIO Performance Profiler, Monitor, Optimize, Compress & Debug 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Profiling Tool For WP 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Dynamic Inspector for Elementor – Performance Profiler & Debugger 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 SpeeSeek – Find What Slows Your WordPress Site — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Speedix 10+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.