Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 schema”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #2 3 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 Schema 30K+ · 4.3★ (221) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too low 9 GD Rating System 1K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 WPSSO Core – Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags 4K+ · 4.6★ (306) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too low 11 Stars Rating 1K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too high 13 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor 50K+ · 4.9★ (729) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #18 ↑3 3 too low 16 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #16 ↑3 17 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too high 18 ReviewX – Multi-Criteria Reviews for WooCommerce with Google Reviews & Schema 6K+ · 4.5★ (85) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #15 ↑3 4 too high 20 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 16 too high 21 Editorial Rating – Product Review & Rating System 200+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #9 ↑2 12 too high 22 WPSSO Ratings and Reviews 100+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 E EWZ-Rating 50+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Tasty Recipes Lite – WordPress Recipe Card Plugin with Built-In Recipe Schema 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 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.