wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “reach”
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 “reach”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Meta for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.1★ average from 481 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 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.
Sliding Cart for WooCommerce by FunnelKit – Skip Cart & Reach WooCommerce Checkout Faster 30K+ · 5.0★ (111)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #4 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★ (5210)
wp.org #7 ↑2 4 too low 4 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (584) low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #1 4 too high 6 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #6 ↑1 7 
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #12 5 too low 8 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 
Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53)
wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626)
wp.org #15 ↑8 5 too low 11 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #16 ↓4 5 too low 12 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #20 8 too low 13 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #13 ↑7 14 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #17 3 too low 15 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too low 16 
Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322)
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80)
wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) low rating, top placement
wp.org #5 ↑1 13 too high 19 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184)
wp.org #22 ↑2 3 too low 20 
Jetpack Social 30K+ · 3.3★ (74)
wp.org #11 ↑3 9 too high 21 
Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116)
wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 
Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268)
wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 
WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51)
wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 
SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25)
wp.org #24 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.