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

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 “postmark”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP places #10 on merit, 4.2★ from 52 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 600K+ · 4.8★ (405) wp.org #1 2 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (5198) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (525) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (707) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 ActiveCampaign Postmark for WordPress 60K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1204) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 700+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Newsletters 2K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 8K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 RSVPMaker 200+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 MailerPress – Email Marketing, Newsletter, Email Automation & WooCommerce Emails 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #17 18 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 P PostmarkApp Email Integrator 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 Simple SMTP by Maileroo 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Pro Mail SMTP 300+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Custom SMTP: Email Deliverability – FREE & Easy-to-use 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Magic API Email 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.