wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pro active”
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 “pro active”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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
Active Campaign & Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 
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 #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too low 7 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 
Templately – Elementor & Gutenberg Template Library: 6500+ Free & Pro Ready Templates And Cloud! 300K+ · 5.0★ (383)
wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) not PHP-current
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
Custom CSS Pro 7K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #5 6 too high 12 
Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 5 too high 13 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #19 ↑3 2 too low 18 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
wp.org #16 2 too high 19 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #15 4 too high 20 
Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525)
wp.org #24 ↓5 4 too low 21 
Activity Log Pro – User Activity Log, Audit Log & Security Monitor 400+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑2 12 too high 22 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #23 ↓8 1 too low 23 Active Campaign & Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.4★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↑2 15 too high 24 
Live Carts for WooCommerce: Track Active, Abandoned, and Converted Carts & Wishlists in Real Time! 900+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 3 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.