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

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 one”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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 #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 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

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 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 wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #2 3 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #3 4 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 6 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #17 ↓2 10 too low 8 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #21 ↑1 10 too low 12 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #24 ↓7 11 too low 14 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Quantity Plus Minus Button for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 O One Page Express Companion 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 CartSuite – Cart All In One For WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (51) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Reviews Plus 1K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 Confirm Plus Contact Form 7 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 Demo Importer Plus 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 Hello Plus 70K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 18 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.