Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ranks”

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 “ranks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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 ↑1 3 GamiPress – Gamification plugin to reward points, badges & ranks in WordPress, now with AI 10K+ · 4.9★ (493) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Points Management System For Gamification, Ranks, Badges, and Loyalty Rewards Program – myCred 10K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #5 ↑2 5 too high 11 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #11 ↑4 1 too high 13 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too low 14 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 Blocksy Companion 300K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #20 ↓6 5 too low 16 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #18 ↑2 1 too low 18 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #22 ↓6 4 too low 19 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too high 20 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO 6K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 15 too high 23 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Convert Rank Math FAQ to Accordion 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 14 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.