wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “primary”
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 “primary”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Primary Addon for Elementor shows at wp.org #3 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 
Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Easy Primary Category 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #1 3 too high 5 
Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 4 too low 11 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #23 12 too low 12 
Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266)
wp.org #24 12 too low 13 
SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25)
wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 
Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25)
wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too high 15 
Permalink Manager for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (26)
wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 
Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57)
wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 
WPMR Google Feed Manager for WooCommerce – Sell on Google Merchant Center & Shopping 10K+ · 4.5★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Primary Addon for Elementor 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviewsstale but ranked
wp.org #3 ↑1 15 too high 19 
AboveWP Bulgarian Eurozone 2K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #15 4 too high 20 
Native PHP Sessions 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓5 1 too high 21 
Premmerce Permalink Manager for WooCommerce 40K+ · 3.9★ (53) not PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓5 3 too high 22 
WPC Fly Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (61) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Media Library File Size 6K+ · 4.6★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 
Pure Metafields 10K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑3 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.