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← Rankings

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

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 “prospects”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 2K+ 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

HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat places #9 on merit, 4.3★ from 207 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #1 2 WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #2 3 CAPTCHA 4WP – Antispam CAPTCHA solution for WordPress 100K+ · 3.2★ (269) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 ActiveCampaign for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.0★ (48) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too low 5 Stars Testimonials — Responsive Reviews & Star Ratings 1K+ · 4.8★ (65) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 ActiveCampaign – The autonomous marketing platform 40K+ · 4.5★ (29) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Aurora Heatmap 10K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Radius Portfolio – Filterable Grid, Gallery & Slider Portfolio 7K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #12 ↑3 4 too low 9 HubSpot All-In-One Marketing – Forms, Popups, Live Chat 200K+ · 4.3★ (207) wp.org #23 ↓5 14 too low 10 Quiz Cat – WordPress Quiz Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #17 ↑2 7 too low 11 Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too low 12 Popups for WooCommerce: Add to Cart, Checkout & More 2K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too high 13 Boei – AI Chatbot, Live Chat & 50+ Channels 900+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14 MWB HubSpot for WooCommerce – CRM, Abandoned Cart, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation & Analytics 6K+ · 3.8★ (55) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 Flexmls® IDX Plugin 1K+ · 3.5★ (22) wp.org #19 ↑2 4 too low 16 Sopro 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 Zoho SalesIQ – Live chat, chatbots, and visitor tracking 10K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Live Shopping & Shoppable Videos For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 YITH WooCommerce Waitlist 3K+ · 3.2★ (26) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Drip for Gravity Forms 400+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Constant Contact + WooCommerce 1K+ · 1.8★ (10) wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23 Panorama Block – immerse visitors in 360 degree views 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Jotform – AI Chatbot 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.