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

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 “redirects”, 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 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

Go Redirects URL Forwarder shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 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 #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #1 2

Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #2 3

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #12 ↑7 7 too low 6

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #11 5 too low 7

301 Redirects & 404 Error Log 30K+ · 4.6★ (28) wp.org #4 3 too high 8

Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Quick 301 Redirects 7K+ · 4.6★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #3 6 too high 10

404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #10 ↓1 11

LoginWP (Formerly Peter's Login Redirect) 80K+ · 4.8★ (503) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13

WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #24 11 too low 14

SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #22 8 too low 15

Redirect 404 to Homepage 60K+ · 4.6★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16

WP Force SSL & HTTPS SSL Redirect 80K+ · 4.7★ (179) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17

BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18

Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19

All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21

Shortcode Redirect 10K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #21 ↓1 22

Controls for Contact Form 7 (Redirects, Analytics & Tracking) 10K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too high 23

Go Redirects URL Forwarder 800+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #8 15 too high 24

Simple Page Redirect 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.