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

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 image”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 4K+ 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

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder places #9 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 Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #1 2

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5

ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #5 ↑2 6

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too low 7

UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8

Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #20 ↓1 11 too low 10

Image Gallery 3K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12

Kraken.io Image Optimizer – Compress, Convert to WebP & AVIF, Resize & Bulk Optimize 10K+ · 4.5★ (119) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13

One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14

User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #21 7 too low 15

Post to Google My Business (Google Business Profile) 10K+ · 4.9★ (159) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16

Bulk Auto Image Alt Text (Alt tag, Alt attribute) optimizer (image SEO) 10K+ · 4.2★ (111) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17

TinyPNG Image Optimization – Image Compression JPEG & PNG | Convert to WebP & AVIF 100K+ · 4.5★ (181) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18

Weblizar Pin It Button On Image Hover And Post 10K+ · 4.0★ (64) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19

User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓1 15 too high 20

Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓2 13 too high 21

WP Register Profile With Shortcode 300+ · 3.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22

Custom Profile Picture – Replace Gravatar with Your Own Images 300+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓2 12 too high 23

Easy Author Avatar Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24

Social Profile Frame Generator – Custom Social Media Frames Creator 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2

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.