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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “rating engine”

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 “rating engine”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Movie Engine – OTT Streaming Platform for Movies & TV Series shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 517 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 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #1 2 WP Travel Engine – Tour Booking Plugin – Tour Operator Software 20K+ · 4.9★ (594) wp.org #2 3 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #3 4 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #6 7 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (323) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 GD Rating System 1K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Amazon Link Engine 2K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Movie Engine – OTT Streaming Platform for Movies & TV Series 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Widgets for Google Reviews and Ratings 3K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Editorial Rating – Product Review & Rating System 200+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 iTunes Link Engine 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 WP Travel Engine – Elementor Widgets | Create Travel Booking Website Using WordPress and Elementor 10K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 3 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.