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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “recipient”

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 “recipient”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 9 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

Dynamic Recipients for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 50+ 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

WP SMTP Mailer – SMTP7 places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 115 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #3 2 too low 2 WC Multiple Email Recipients 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Additional Custom Emails & Recipients for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 PW WooCommerce Gift Cards 20K+ · 4.7★ (195) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #15 ↓4 8 too low 8 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #12 ↑5 3 too low 10 Comment Moderation/Notification Recipients 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 WP SMTP Mailer – SMTP7 8K+ · 5.0★ (115) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 SMTP Mailer 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #20 ↓6 8 too low 13 Flexible PDF Coupons – Gift Cards & Vouchers for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (31) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too low 14 Payment Button for PayPal 4K+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #18 ↓6 4 too low 15 Message Bridge for Contact Form 7 and Telegram 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 WSB HUB3 1K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Colissimo shipping methods for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.7★ (28) wp.org #13 ↓4 4 too high 18 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards 10K+ · 3.3★ (53) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Emails Catch All 600+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23 WPC Order Tip for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Dynamic Recipients for Contact Form 7 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑6 14 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.