wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin versions”
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 versions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
PlugVersions – Easily roll back to previous versions of your plugins. shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 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.
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #1 2 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #2 3 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #7 ↑14 2 too low 6 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #6 ↑4 1 too high 8 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #3 ↓1 5 too high 9 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #11 ↑5 2 too low 10 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #12 ↓5 2 too low 11 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #15 ↓7 2 too low 14 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #9 ↓3 5 too high 15 
Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227)
wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039)
wp.org #23 ↓6 7 too low 17 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #13 4 too high 18 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #18 ↓4 1 too high 20 
Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62)
wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 
Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #21 ↓3 22 
Plugin Groups 1K+ · 4.3★ (31)
wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 
Better Plugin Compatibility Control 4K+ · 4.3★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 PlugVersions – Easily roll back to previous versions of your plugins. 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 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.