wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “profile data”

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 “profile data”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 832 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #1 2

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #2 3

Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #3 ↑2 4

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

User Profile Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6

BP Profile Search 5K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7

wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #10 ↓3 3 too low 8

ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12

UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13

Profile Extra Fields by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.6★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 7 too high 15

One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16

WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17

User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #21 4 too low 18

FlexTable – Data Table Sync with Google Sheets 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #23 5 too low 19

Post Meta Data Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20

WP User Profile Restriction 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21

Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #8 13 too high 22

CiviCRM Profile Sync 500+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23

WP Register Profile With Shortcode 300+ · 3.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24

Custom Profile Picture – Replace Gravatar with Your Own Images 300+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #15 9 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.