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

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 “process”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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

DreamHost Automated Migration shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 418 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too low 5 Direct Checkout for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (408) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #15 ↑6 7 too low 9 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 #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Quick Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 50K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 ↑1 8 too high 15 Magic Login – Magic Link & Passwordless Authentication for WordPress – Login Without Password 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 DreamHost Automated Migration 20K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑1 10 too high 18 Optimus – WordPress Image Optimizer 30K+ · 4.2★ (69) wp.org #20 ↑2 2 too low 19 Booking Package 10K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #11 ↑7 8 too high 20 Pressable Automated Migration 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Timeline Block For Gutenberg 9K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 Backend Payments for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too high 23 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 M Menu Duplicator 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #24

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.