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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “quick launch”

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 “quick launch”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Simple Countdown Timer – Sales, Launch and Event Countdowns shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 542 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Quick 301 Redirects 7K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Quick Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 50K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too low 12 All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements 40K+ · 4.9★ (542) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 YayPricing – WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts 3K+ · 5.0★ (72) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 StoreGrowth – Upsell, BOGO, Quick View, Direct Checkout & Side Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 too high 16 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 AI WP Writer – SEO content generator, chatGPT, Gemini, Claude 3K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Simple Countdown Timer – Sales, Launch and Event Countdowns 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 14 too high 19 Unbounce Landing Pages 10K+ · 3.2★ (11) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Post Type Transfer 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Counter Box – Add Countdowns, Timers & Dynamic Counters to WordPress 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 Power Coupons for WooCommerce 30K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑8 8 too high 23 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Change Product Author For WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓2 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.