Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

SEO Metrics shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ 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

DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 99 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 O OneLogin SAML SSO 7K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #1 ↑14 2 Smart Coupons For WooCommerce Coupons 30K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 mPDF add-on for RTL and Unicode Support 4K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 PDF Invoices and Packing Slips For WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation – Email marketing, Popups, Email customizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Legal Text Connector of the IT-Recht Kanzlei 10K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Hide Cart Functions 3K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 TimeSaverBot – Multilingual AI Chatbot for WooCommerce & Live Chat 100+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 SCIM User Sync/Provisioning 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Ultimate Multisite – WordPress Multisite SaaS & WaaS Platform 90+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Object Data Sync for Salesforce Integration with WP, Woo, Gravity, WPForms, Ninja, CF7 & more 100+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Freight Shipping Quote – Simplify Shipping Cost Requests 300+ · 4.7★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 WP DataTable 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 Data Diagrams: Visual Chart Editor for WordPress 10+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Wedding RSVP – Wedding Guest List, Meal Choices & RSVP Tracker 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 UltimaTour Contact Forms 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 SEO Metrics 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 SVG Icons 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 tatrapay+ Payment Gateway 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑3 2 too high 22 ePayVista Payments: High-Risk Crypto and Card Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 Socialwire Article Generator 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Responsive Slick Slider WordPress 500+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.