wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugins used”
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 “plugins used”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Upload Larger Plugins shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 20 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 #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. 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 #2 1 too low 2 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #6 ↑3 2 too low 5 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too high 7 
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 2 too low 8 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #15 ↑4 5 too low 11 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too low 12 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #10 2 too high 13 
WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215)
wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too low 15 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #20 ↓5 5 too low 16 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #21 5 too low 17 U Upload Larger Plugins 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #12 6 too high 19 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #19 ↑1 20 
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #11 9 too high 21 
WP Travel Engine – Tour Booking Plugin – Tour Operator Software 20K+ · 4.9★ (594) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
Plugins List 700+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 
SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-currenthost-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
Berq Used CSS – Remove Unused CSS Automatically 70+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 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.