wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “post script”
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 script”, 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
Tracking Script Manager shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #3 4 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1238)
wp.org #4 ↑2 5 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Post Type Switcher 200K+ · 4.8★ (255)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #14 ↓3 4 too low 11 
Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221)
wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #24 12 too low 13 
AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84)
wp.org #20 7 too low 14 
Header and Footer Scripts 200K+ · 4.6★ (58)
wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 
MWW Scheduled Post Trigger 60K+ · 4.4★ (27)
wp.org #13 2 too high 16 
Transliterator – Multilingual and Multi-script Text Conversion 3K+ · 4.8★ (96)
wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 
Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26)
wp.org #17 ↓1 18 
Insert Headers and Footers Code – HT Script 7K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #9 10 too high 20 
Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 
MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 Tracking Script Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 
Header Footer Script Adder 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 
CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.