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← Rankings

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

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 “popups”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 6 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 #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #3 ↑4 4 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too low 5 WP Popups – WordPress Popup builder 30K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9 Advanced Popups 60K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 too high 10 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #9 ↓3 1 too high 11 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #17 ↑6 5 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat 200K+ · 4.3★ (207) wp.org #23 ↓11 8 too low 16 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 AI Popup Builder & Popup Maker by OptiMonk 3K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Nelio Popups 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 Newsletters, Email Marketing, SMS and Popups by Omnisend 100K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 T Themify Popup 8K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Wisepops Popups & Notifications 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.