wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pull”
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 “pull”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Embedder for Google Reviews shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #1 2 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #2 3 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851)
wp.org #10 5 too low 6 
Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #14 7 too low 8 
SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356)
wp.org #8 ↓2 9 
Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226)
wp.org #9 10 
Complianz – Terms and Conditions 300K+ · 4.9★ (187)
wp.org #11 1 too low 11 
Simple Pull Quote 1K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #3 8 too high 12 
Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑1 6 too high 13 
Widget Importer & Exporter 200K+ · 4.7★ (117)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #21 ↓5 7 too low 15 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #17 ↑6 2 too low 16 
Imsanity 200K+ · 4.9★ (291)
wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101)
wp.org #24 ↓3 7 too low 18 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #18 19 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 
Simple Admin Language Change 10K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 
Embed PDF Viewer 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Embedder for Google Reviews 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #13 9 too high 23 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓4 24 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 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.