Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “redirect settings”

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 “redirect settings”, 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

Simple Page Redirect shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 27820 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #1 2 LoginWP (Formerly Peter's Login Redirect) 80K+ · 4.8★ (503) wp.org #2 3 Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) wp.org #3 4 Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #19 ↑1 11 too low 9 Shortcode Redirect 10K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #16 ↓3 6 too low 11 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #12 13 Maintenance & Coming Soon Redirect Animation 3K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Redirect 404 to Homepage 60K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 WP Force SSL & HTTPS SSL Redirect 80K+ · 4.7★ (179) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Simple Page Redirect 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Sky Login Redirect 2K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too high 18 WP Post Redirect 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 Entryway – WP Login & Logout Redirect 6K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Groups 404 Redirect 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21 After Login Redirect 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Advanced GeoIP Redirect 900+ · 3.6★ (11) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Advanced 301 and 302 Redirect 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Premmerce Redirect Manager 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 7 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.