Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “recently updated”

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 “recently updated”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 2 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

Lightweight Sitemap Generator shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 405 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Recently 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Jetpack Protect 100K+ · 4.6★ (123) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #14 9 too low 6 weDocs: AI Powered Knowledge Base, Docs, Documentation, Wiki & AI Chatbot 5K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #24 ↓2 15 too low 10 Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 R Recently Updated Pages and Posts 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 10 too high 12 Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #13 14 Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 WC Price History 5K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #16 17 Recently Purchased Products For Woo 60+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↑1 12 too high 18 R Recently Updated Pages 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 P Preload Fullpage Cache 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Assistant – Every Day Productivity Apps 4K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Thanko Thank You Page Customizer for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.5★ (37) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 Automatic Product Categories for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 ABCode Cache Warmer 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Lightweight Sitemap Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.