Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “progressive web application”

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 “progressive web application”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.

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

Easy Progressive Web App shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 50 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #1 2 PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 PWA — easy way to Progressive Web App 1K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #11 ↑6 5 too low 7 Hyper PWA – Bringing Modern Progressive Web App Experiences 400+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 MembershipWorks – Membership, Events & Directory 2K+ · 4.4★ (37) wp.org #22 ↑1 12 too low 11 Hippoo Mobile App for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Progressify – All-in-One Progressive Web App (PWA) 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 Atlant Security 800+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Cincopa video and media plug-in 1K+ · 2.8★ (26) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Atomic Edge Security – Firewall, Malware Scan and Login Security 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Mobile-Refuel Table Reservation 10+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 FoodOrd – Online Food Ordering & Table Reservation System 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 WordSec – Malware Scanner & Removal, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and 2FA 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Login Delay Shield 70+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 Easy Progressive Web App 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 14 too high 22 SiteEase Progressive Web App 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23 PWA – Progressive Web App Builder by WPCodeQuill 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Headless SSO Plugin for WP 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 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.