Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “push 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 “push pull”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Preserve MainWP Connection shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ 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

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 4 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #14 ↓3 8 too low 7 Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #18 ↓4 11 too low 8 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9 WP Synchro – The Ultimate WordPress Migration Tool 2K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #19 ↑4 8 too low 12 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 Merge + Minify + Refresh 3K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Syndication 90+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #5 ↑1 11 too high 17 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 Barion Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Progressify – All-in-One Progressive Web App (PWA) 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Preserve MainWP Connection 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Abs – Additional block styles 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 EasyPusher – Web Push Notifications 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Progressive Web App – PWA, Web Push Notifications and Offline Mode 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Volume Post Sync Manager 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.