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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “record data”

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 “record data”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 3 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

Crawler Record shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 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

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 SEO Data Transporter 2K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #8 ↓2 5 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 #10 6 too low 5 Record of Consent Extension for Complianz 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 FlexTable – Data Table Sync with Google Sheets 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too high 10 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 too low 13 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #16 ↑3 3 too low 14 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 Data Source for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #9 ↑2 9 too high 19 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #24 ↓8 5 too low 20 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #14 ↑5 6 too high 21 Object Data Sync for Salesforce Integration with WP, Woo, Gravity, WPForms, Ninja, CF7 & more 100+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #20 ↑5 2 too high 23 Crawler Record 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 19 too high 24 Ultimate Data Table Addon For Elementor 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑3 5 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.