wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “preset”
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 “preset”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
AWSM Team – Team Showcase Plugin shows at wp.org #16 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #1 2 
Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 
Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94)
wp.org #4 ↑3 5 
Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209)
wp.org #7 ↑7 1 too low 7 
Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 
SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager 10K+ · 4.7★ (369)
wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 
Style Kits for Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (44)
wp.org #8 ↓2 4 too high 13 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #17 4 too low 14 
Rearrange Products for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (58)
wp.org #10 4 too high 15 
HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489)
wp.org #20 ↓5 5 too low 16 
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273)
wp.org #19 ↓7 1 too low 19 
YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter 70K+ · 3.5★ (98)
wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too high 20 
Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too high 21 
Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102)
wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 
Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 AWSM Team – Team Showcase Plugin 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 
Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.