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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “rank math”

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 “rank math”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 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

Convert Rank Math FAQ to Accordion 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 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Page Builder by SiteOrigin places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1005 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 3 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too low 4 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #6 ↑5 2 too low 5 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #12 ↓5 7 too low 6 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #20 ↓3 12 too low 9 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Blocksy Companion 300K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #16 ↓7 6 too low 11 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Instant Indexing for Google 200K+ · 3.6★ (36) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO 6K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #3 10 too high 14 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 Simple SEO 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #23 ↓3 8 too low 16 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Convert Rank Math FAQ to Accordion 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 14 too high 19 Linguator – AI Auto Translate & Create Multilingual Sites 3K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #19 20 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Do Shortcodes for Rank Math SEO 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑2 11 too high 22 Rank Authority — AI SEO & GEO on Autopilot 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 23 Kabook Auto Schema & Accordion for Rank Math 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑4 12 too high 24 Auto Focus Keyword for SEO 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.