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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “posts sitemap”

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 “posts sitemap”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

WP Sitemap Pages and Posts shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

LiteSpeed Cache places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2778 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233) wp.org #2 3 WP Sitemap Page 200K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #3 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #19 ↑2 7 too low 13 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #21 ↑2 8 too low 14 Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Companion Sitemap Generator – Simple, Smart, and SEO-Ready 6K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Kwayy HTML Sitemap 6K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 WP Simple HTML Sitemap 3K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Simple XML Sitemap Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 D Display HTML Sitemap 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 WP Sitemap Pages and Posts 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24 Rapls Sitemap – HTML Sitemap & Post List 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.