wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin support”
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 support”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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
Majestic Support – The Leading-Edge Help Desk & Customer Support Plugin shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356)
wp.org #1 2 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #2 3 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #3 4 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #12 4 too low 9 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #11 1 too low 11 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #6 6 too high 13 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #24 11 too low 14 
Awesome Support – WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin 6K+ · 3.5★ (194)
wp.org #9 5 too high 15 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #19 4 too low 16 S SSH SFTP Updater Support 10K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #14 2 too high 17 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #20 3 too low 18 
Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227)
wp.org #18 19 Majestic Support – The Leading-Edge Help Desk & Customer Support Plugin 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #5 14 too high 20 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Support Genix – Helpdesk, AI Chatbot, Knowledge Base & Customer Support Ticketing System 3K+ · 4.5★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #23 24 
HEIC Support 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #16 8 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.