wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “popup”

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 “popup”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Advanced Popups shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 3205 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 700K+ · 4.9★ (4503) wp.org #1 2

Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2213) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 3

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 90K+ · 4.4★ (858) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (815) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (694) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6

Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (81) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7

Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3205) wp.org #15 ↑2 8 too low 8

Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 80K+ · 4.6★ (234) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9

Popup Maker – Responsive popup, Exit Intent Pop up, Email Optins, Autoresponder & More 7K+ · 4.5★ (144) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11

Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (439) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12

Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↑3 8 too high 13

Smart Popup by Supsystic 10K+ · 4.5★ (340) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14

Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #19 5 too low 15

WP Popups – WordPress Popup builder 30K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 T Themify Popup 8K+ · 4.9★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too high 17

HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat 200K+ · 4.3★ (207) wp.org #23 ↓11 6 too low 18

Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19

Video Popup – Video Lightbox for YouTube, Vimeo & MP4 10K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20

WPB Popup for Contact Form 7 – Showing Contact Form 7 Popup on Button Click 6K+ · 4.6★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #17 3 too high 21

Cart Popup for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.4★ (70) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 1 too low 22

Advanced Popups 60K+ · 4.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #13 9 too high 23

Video Popup Block – YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok Lightbox by WPZOOM 10K+ · 4.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 24

MakeITeasy Popup 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.