Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post headlines”

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

Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 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 wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 3 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #3 4 AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Inline Related Posts 100K+ · 4.3★ (77) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too low 8 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #19 ↓3 8 too low 12 Related Posts By PickPlugins 3K+ · 4.6★ (39) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Animated Headline 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #6 ↓1 9 too high 16 Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 Prime Slider – Hero Slider, Carousel, WooCommerce & Post Slider Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Gutenberg 400K+ · 2.1★ (3888) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Headline Analyzer 900+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too high 22 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 Fancy Post Grid – Ultimate Post Grid Builder 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 News Ticker – Floating Headlines & Sticky Alerts 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.