wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “question”
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 “question”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ 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
Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 775 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186)
wp.org #1 2 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #2 3 
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too high 5 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #5 ↓2 6 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #6 ↑3 7 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too low 8 
Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869)
wp.org #8 9 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775)
wp.org #19 ↓2 7 too low 13 
Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too high 14 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #16 ↓4 2 too low 15 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #23 ↓4 8 too low 16 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #13 3 too high 17 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282)
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 
UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309)
wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24 Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↓1 17 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.