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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “proof of existence”

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 “proof of existence”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites shows at wp.org #5 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 400+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #1 ↑11 2 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 WordProof Timestamp 200+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Login Delay Shield 70+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Simple Entry Booking for WooCommerce 40+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 LaTeX2HTML 200+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 Spotrebiteľské práva pre WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Rocketship SEO 10+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 13 too low 10 Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Sigelith Timestamp — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Konfyra Omni Guard — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Ultra Web Hosting Performance Toolkit 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 VibeShift Boost – Conversion Engine for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 UsageRay – See Where Plugins Are Used — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 ddosNull Shield — DDoS & Bot Protection — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 C CSGaku Site State Check — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Gloty – AI Translation & Multilingual — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 FDesign Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Stagent — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 ITSM Newsletter — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Amaso AI – GEO & AI Search Visibility — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓5 2 too low 23 Weather Write 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 BaseCloud Shield 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.