wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin tables”
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 tables”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 6 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.
Buried gem
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 681 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.
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Ninja Tables – Easy Data Table Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (472)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449)
wp.org #4 5 
Pricing Table WordPress Plugin – Easy Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.3★ (133)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.7★ (497)
wp.org #8 ↑8 2 too low 7 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #7 ↑2 8 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑2 3 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 #9 ↓4 1 too high 11 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too low 12 WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #17 5 too low 13 
Make Tables Responsive 6K+ · 5.0★ (34)
wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↑7 1 too high 15 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221)
wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too high 19 
Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60)
wp.org #18 1 too high 20 
Plugins Garbage Collector (Database Cleanup) 10K+ · 4.4★ (92)
wp.org #20 ↓1 21 
Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 
Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62)
wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #21 3 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.