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← Rankings

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

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 “prefetch”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Embed Optimizer shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Hide & Security Enhancer places #12 on merit, 4.3★ from 275 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Oxyplug Prefetch & Prerender 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #24 ↓1 12 too low 13 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #16 17 WP Performance 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 ezCache 10K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 T TGG – WP Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 Perform – Optimize Performance 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.