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

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 time”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Most And Least Read Posts Widget shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 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 #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #2 3 Reading Time WP 20K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #3 4 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #4 5 Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too low 10 Worth The Read 3K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 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 #20 ↓4 7 too low 14 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 Document Embedder – let visitors read files without downloading 9K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Most And Least Read Posts Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 PI Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Article Read Time 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 MinuteRead – Reading Time for Posts 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓5 4 too high 24 Font Resize With Post Reading Time [GWE] 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.