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

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 “recommend”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Classic Editor + shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 31 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1917 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

I Recommend This – Love/Like Button for WordPress Posts 4K+ · 4.7★ (38) wp.org #1 2

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #3 ↑7 1 too low 3

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4

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 #6 2 too low 5

Contextly Recommends 100+ · 3.8★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #2 ↑1 4 too high 7

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #8 ↑6 1 too low 8

Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9

Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #10 ↓6 1 too low 10

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1917) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too low 11

Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #9 2 too high 12

Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too low 13

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14

Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #13 ↓5 1 too high 15

Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #22 7 too low 16

Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #17 ↓4 1 too low 17

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #21 ↓10 4 too low 18

Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #11 7 too high 19

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #12 7 too high 20

Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #23 3 too low 21

Quiz Builder for WooCommerce – Product Recommendations 2K+ · 5.0★ (102) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too high 22

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #16 ↓7 6 too high 23

User Profile Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too high 24

Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.