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← Rankings

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

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 save”, we agree with wp.org 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

Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Quick Featured Images 50K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #1 2 CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #2 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Quick Adsense 20K+ · 3.9★ (74) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 Quick 301 Redirects 7K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Quick Event Manager 1K+ · 4.9★ (67) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Quick Buy Now Button for WooCommerce 50K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Save & Go 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Quick Download Button 1K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Quick Contact Form 1K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Addonify – Quick View For WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Simple Webchat 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 HD Quiz – Save Results Light 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Quick Maps – Google Maps Without API Key 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Barmaton Quick Admin Logout 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.