Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “profiling”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Profiling Tool For WP shows at wp.org #2 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #1 2 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 WeShareAI – AI-Powered Share Buttons (formerly E-MAILiT) 600+ · 4.3★ (65) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 DebugPress: Debugger in Popup 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 MAIO – ChatGPT SEO Tracking & AI Search Optimization 90+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Profiling Tool For WP 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 SaleSmartly – Live Chat & Chat Bot Integrate 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Sync Mautic 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Feedify – Web Push Notifications 90+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Smaily Connect 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 Scrutoscope – WordPress Performance Profiler 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 SitePulse – Performance Monitor, Safe Updates & Site Management 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 ViaAds 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 GuardianKey 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 CodeTelemetryLab Admin Performance Inspector — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Perfbase — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Speedix 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 HookTrace – Trace Hooks with Precision — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 CedCommerce Connector for Miravia 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 Quantely Activity 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Aipatch Security Scanner 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 WP Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache, Minify & Core Web Vitals 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.