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

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 plus”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Editorial Rating – Product Review & Rating System shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

1 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 ↑1 2

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3

Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9

Media Library Folders 10K+ · 4.3★ (465) wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too low 10

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #19 9 too low 11

Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) heavy footprint wp.org #11 ↑5 12

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13

YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (323) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14

Reviews Plus 1K+ · 4.4★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16

Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #16 ↓3 17

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18

Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid 40K+ · 4.8★ (442) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20

Editorial Rating – Product Review & Rating System 200+ · 4.4★ (13) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21

Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22

Rating by BestWebSoft 300+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23

WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 24

Filter Plus – WordPress & WooCommerce AJAX Filter Plugin 200+ · 3.5★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.