Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 orders”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Export Orders for WooCommerce – AI & MCP for Claude and ChatGPT shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 wp.org
1 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #1 2 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) wp.org #4 5 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #5 6 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Coupon Affiliates – Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too low 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Repeat Order for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 ProveSource Social Proof 2K+ · 4.8★ (72) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #24 ↓5 8 too low 17 New Order Notification for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Place Order Without Payment for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #18 ↓3 19 Sequential Order Numbers for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #19 ↓3 20 Autocomplete for WooCommerce Orders 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 Export Orders for WooCommerce – AI & MCP for Claude and ChatGPT 500+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Track Orders for WooCommerce – Multi Carrier WooCommerce Shipping 200+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓3 9 too high 24 Last Users Order Column for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 4 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.