Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “rapid”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Rapid Canonical URLs shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WCFM – Frontend Manager for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 286 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Rapid Car Check 200+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Gantry 5 Framework 7K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #16 11 too low 6 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #18 ↑1 12 too low 7 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 WCFM – Frontend Manager for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (286) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Eway Payment Gateway 800+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation 30K+ · 4.7★ (252) wp.org #23 ↑1 12 too low 12 Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (189) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13 Gravity Forms Eway 500+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Rapid URL Indexer for WP – Index Websites in Google 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 12 too high 15 WP All Import – Import Add-On for ACF 50K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Rencontre – Dating Site 200+ · 3.8★ (49) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO 6K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 Rapid Canonical URLs 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Yoast SEO 20K+ · 2.8★ (11) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for All In One SEO 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 WP All Import – Job Listing Import for WP Job Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Rapid Indexer – Auto Indexing for Google, Bing, Brave & IndexNow 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 11 too high 23 WP All Import – Listings Import for Listify 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 WP All Import – Property Import for RealHomes 700+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.