wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “read only”

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 “read only”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Readministrator (Read Only Administrator) shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5

Worth The Read 3K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #3 2 too high 6

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

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 #15 ↓5 7 too low 9

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too low 10 R Registered Users Only 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #21 ↓5 10 too low 12

Show only lowest prices in variable products for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↓1 6 too high 13

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #22 ↓3 9 too low 14

Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 ↑11 2 too high 15

Document Embedder – let visitors read files without downloading 9K+ · 4.9★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17

PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) not PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓9 7 too low 18

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #18 19

WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 1 too low 20

Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓4 4 too high 21

Readministrator (Read Only Administrator) 70+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 14 too high 22

WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too high 23 E Eyes Only 70+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #13 10 too high 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.