wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post order in mobile”
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 order in mobile”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider shows at wp.org #14 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 31 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 14,389 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.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #1 2 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #2 3 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1,720)
wp.org #3 ↑2 4 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7,676)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce 100K+ · 5.0★ (351)
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7,322)
wp.org #8 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 7 
OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84)
wp.org #6 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14,389)
wp.org #12 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 9 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2,409)
wp.org #7 ↑12 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 10 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #9 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 11 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210)
wp.org #10 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 12 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1,527)
wp.org #15 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 13 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4,833)
wp.org #13 ↓2 14 
CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538)
wp.org #18 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 15 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2,216)
wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 16 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 17 
Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163)
wp.org #16 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 18 
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #23 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 19 
AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84)
wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 20 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31)
wp.org #14 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 21 
Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140)
wp.org #24 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 22 
Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26)
wp.org #17 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 23 
Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61)
wp.org #20 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 24 
Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.