wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plus 1”

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 “plus 1”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Hello Plus shows at wp.org #3 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 21 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #1 2

Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #2 3

The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #13 7 too low 7

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #7 ↓1 8

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #17 ↑1 9 too low 9

Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10

Quantity Plus Minus Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (30) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 6 too high 11

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↓2 12

Media Library Folders 10K+ · 4.3★ (465) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13

Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #19 ↓2 6 too low 14

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #21 ↓5 6 too low 16

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 #16 ↓1 17

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #23 6 too low 18

1-Click WordPress Migration Plugin – Backup, Migrate & Clone 400+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #10 8 too high 19

WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20

Billingo Plus integráció WooCommerce-hez 900+ · 5.0★ (19) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21

Accessibility Tool Kit: WP Accessibility checker plugin for WCAG, Section 508, ADA, EAA Compliance 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22

Shape Dividers Plus for Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23

Filter Plus – WordPress & WooCommerce AJAX Filter Plugin 200+ · 3.5★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Hello Plus 70K+ · 3.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #3 21 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.