Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “recent comment”

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 “recent comment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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

Turn Comments Off shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ 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

AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 1319 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #1 2 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #2 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 R Recent Comments Widget with Comment Excerpts 100+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Decent Comments 1K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #16 17 ThemeZee Widget Bundle 5K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 D Dashboard Commander 800+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Turn Comments Off 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Disabler 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Remoji – Post/Comment Reaction and Enhancement 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Comment Emojis for WP 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Init Recent Comments – Templated, Modern, Minimal 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 R Recent Comments Widget with Excerpts 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 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.