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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “product margin”

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 “product margin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 7 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

Ibtana – Ecommerce Product Addons shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #1 2 Product Slider, Product Carousel and Product Grid Gallery for WooCommerce – Reno Product Slider (formerly Product Slider for WooCommerce) 20K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #2 3 Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #3 4 Advanced Product Labels for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (252) wp.org #4 5 Product Slider, Product Grid, Product Masonry 9K+ · 4.3★ (86) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 Product Category Slider & Grid for WooCommerce – Reno Product Category 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #7 8 WPMR Google Feed Manager for WooCommerce – Sell on Google Merchant Center & Shopping 10K+ · 4.5★ (127) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #17 ↑7 8 too low 10 Product Layouts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Payment Methods by Product & Country for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 Advanced Woo Labels – Product Labels & Badges for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (64) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 CatalogX Product Catalog, Product Enquiry & Quotes for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 AI Product Tools – Bulk Product Content Generator & AI Toolkit for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD 6K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Cost of Goods: Product Cost & Profit Calculator for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Better Badge – Custom Product Badges for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 Product Sort and Display for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.1★ (45) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Ibtana – Ecommerce Product Addons 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Extra Product Options for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 P Product Categories/Tags Bottom Description for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Product Upload: AI Dropshipping & Product Importer for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.