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← Rankings

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

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 “purpose”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 6 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

SteadFast API shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #2 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #3 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #17 ↓5 7 too low 11 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Change Admin Email 40K+ · 4.8★ (141) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too high 14 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #20 ↑4 5 too low 16 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Donations via PayPal 20K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too high 22 Missed Schedule Post Publisher 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 SteadFast API 8K+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 Infinity TNC Divi Modules 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.