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

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 “rates”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Mortgage Rates shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 Shipping Live Rates for USPS for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #1 ↑10 2 Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706) wp.org #4 ↓3 2 too low 3 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #11 ↓4 8 too low 4 Shipping Live Rates and Access Points for UPS for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #16 ↑1 11 too low 6 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #18 12 too low 7 Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (74) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Exchange Rates 800+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #24 ↓4 15 too low 10 Easyship WooCommerce Shipping Rates 2K+ · 4.2★ (54) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #12 ↑2 13 Exchange Rates Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 11 too high 14 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #20 ↓4 6 too low 15 Shipping Live Rates for FedEx for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 Live Rates for ShipStation 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 E Exchange Rates Today 400+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Advanced Shipping Rates for WooCommerce: Flexible Table Rate Shipping Rules 2K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too high 19 Shipping Live Rates for DHL Express for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Shipping Live rates for Canada Post for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Extra Shipping Rates for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Shipping Live Rates for Royal Mail for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓7 23 Mortgage Rates 300+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓3 16 too high 24 A AffiliateWP – Affiliate Product Rates 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #14 10 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.