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← Rankings

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

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 rating”, 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

Editorial Rating – Product Review & Rating System shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 13 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 #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too high 5 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 GD Rating System 1K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #6 ↓1 6 too high 13 WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249) wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too low 14 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #9 ↑3 6 too high 16 Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18 Stars Rating 1K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #12 ↓3 6 too high 19 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Australia Post WooCommerce Extension 3K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Post Carousel Divi 2K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Widgets for Google Reviews and Ratings 3K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Editorial Rating – Product Review & Rating System 200+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 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.