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

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 “prefill”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Cal.com shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 EMC – Embed Calendly Scheduling With Ease 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 UseStrict’s Calendly Embedder 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 too high 8 Faview – Virtual Reviews for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 FormFacade – Embed Google Forms in your website 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Stock Ticker 2K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 GravityWP – CSS Selector 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Payment Page – Stripe Payment Forms for Donations, Subscriptions & Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Importify – AI Dropshipping for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #23 ↓3 10 too low 14 SocialNotify: Notifications for Contact Form 7 10+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Cal.com 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Zoho Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder for Websites – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Order Forms & More 10K+ · 2.7★ (14) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 FriendStore for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 19 Dynamic Field for Elementor Forms – Populate Anything 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 AffiEasy 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Form Enhancer for Fluent Forms 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too high 22 Connector for Gravity Forms and MailPoet 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 WEDOS | Protection & Cache Performance 300+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 AFB – Auto Form Builder: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Multi-Step Forms, Conditional Logic & AI 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 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.