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 11 of the top 20. 4 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

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

Lightbox with PhotoSwipe places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 115 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. 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 #5 1 too low 5

Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #9 ↓5 4 too low 6

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

Contextly Recommends 100+ · 3.8★ (23) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #2 ↑1 5 too high 8

Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #8 9

Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #14 ↑3 4 too low 11

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too low 12

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #10 ↑4 2 too high 13

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #20 7 too low 14

Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too low 15

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #21 ↓10 6 too low 16

Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #24 8 too low 17

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18

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

Quiz Builder for WooCommerce – Product Recommendations 2K+ · 5.0★ (102) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #13 7 too high 21

Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #23 2 too low 22

User Profile Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too high 23

Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 ↓11 4 too high 24

Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #22 2 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.