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← Rankings

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

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 “practitioners”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 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

2ConnectMe – Video Chat, Screen Share & Stripe Payments shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #1 2 Appointment Booking Plugin – LatePoint | Calendar & Scheduling for WordPress 100K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #2 3 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #3 4 FormLift for Keap (Legacy) Web Forms 300+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #4 5 Rox Appointment Booking – Event, Calendar & Appointment Scheduling 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 6 Tarot Card Oracle 100+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #6 7 Booking System Trafft 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Superb Table (SEO Optimized Tables With Schema) 2K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Circumflex Booking 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Arianne G Esotools 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑3 11 Online Booking & Appointment Scheduling – Vigore — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 10 too low 12 Theraplo 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 Quill Booking – Appointment Scheduling & Event Management Solution 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 A Astrology Suite for FreeAstroAPI 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Francesco Guarino Booking Calendar for Tarot Readers — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Sanctuary Tiger SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Daily Tarot 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 Sugar Calendar Bookings Scheduling Appointments Lite 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑2 19 Coach by Wondersome — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 DentSoft Online Randevu — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 Prenotazioni IGEA — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 Klarum Accessibility Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Legal Services Management 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 2ConnectMe – Video Chat, Screen Share & Stripe Payments 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.