wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “premium plugins”
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 “premium plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20.
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
Upload Larger Plugins shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 20 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #2 3 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #3 4 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #4 5 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too low 6 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #9 ↓3 10 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #10 ↓2 11 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #11 ↑3 12 
WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215)
wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too low 13 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #15 ↑3 2 too low 14 
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #12 2 too high 15 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #21 ↑2 4 too low 18 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too high 19 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #24 ↓4 5 too low 20 
CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326)
wp.org #22 2 too low 21 
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 U Upload Larger Plugins 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 
Premium Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Patterns & Templates 2K+ · 4.8★ (41)
wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 
Premium Packages – Sell Digital Products Securely 2K+ · 3.8★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.