wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “popular”
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 “popular”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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
Maintenance shows at wp.org #17 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 1M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 869 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #4 ↑4 1 too low 4 
WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 
Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1072)
wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too low 9 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #9 10 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too low 11 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916)
wp.org #12 ↑2 13 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #14 ↑5 1 too high 16 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #15 ↑5 2 too high 18 
Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591)
wp.org #20 ↑4 2 too low 19 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #18 1 too high 20 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #24 ↓8 2 too low 23 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869)
wp.org #17 6 too high 24 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.