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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “push notification”

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 “push notification”, we and wp.org disagree 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

Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 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 #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #10 ↑3 5 too low 6 PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #24 ↓1 17 too low 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #23 ↓1 15 too low 9 Push Notification for Post and BuddyPress 200+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #9 10 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #21 ↓2 11 too low 11 Perfecty Push Notifications 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 iZooto – Web Push Notifications 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Gravitec.net – Web Push Notifications 1K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 SendPulse Free Web Push 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Push Notifications by LaraPush 4K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 WP Notification Bell 700+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 INDIGITALL – Instant Chat, Web Push Notifications 90+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Subscribers – Free Web Push Notifications 1K+ · 2.9★ (8) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 WhoKnew Signal – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications & PWA 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 PushAI – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Web Push Notifications by Aimtell 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Ultimate Push Notifications 50+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #20 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.