wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “queues”
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 “queues”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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
Meta for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.1★ average from 481 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 321 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Mail Queue 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4 
Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172)
wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 
Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125)
wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↑3 3 too high 7 
Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321)
wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 
Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 
PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66)
wp.org #12 1 too low 12 
ShopMagic – email automation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (78)
wp.org #14 ↓3 2 too low 13 
ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑1 6 too high 14 
Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #9 5 too high 15 
Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↑4 4 too high 16 
Front End PM 4K+ · 4.8★ (220)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 A AJAX Thumbnail Rebuild 30K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #19 ↓5 2 too low 18 
AcyMailing – An Ultimate Newsletter Plugin and Marketing Automation Solution for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (157)
wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 
WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36)
wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 
Social Engine 600+ · 4.8★ (30)
wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 
Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 12 too high 23 
Disk Usage Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 
GD Mail Queue 700+ · 5.0★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.