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

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 “protocols”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

AI shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 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 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #1 2 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #2 3 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Open Graph Protocol Framework 3K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #11 12 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Auto Upload Images 20K+ · 4.3★ (106) wp.org #13 14 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 WDesignKit – AI Templates, Widget Builder & MCP Workflow 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Open Graph 10K+ · 4.3★ (13) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) 100K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 External files in Media Library 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 6 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.