wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “registration api”
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 “registration api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Datafeedr API shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459)
wp.org #4 ↑2 5 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 3 too high 7 
PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281)
wp.org #6 ↑8 1 too high 8 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too low 9 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #9 10 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #20 10 too low 11 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #15 ↑4 4 too low 12 
Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 2 too high 13 
Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103)
wp.org #13 14 
Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #8 6 too high 15 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 
Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓3 7 too high 20 Datafeedr API 4K+ · 4.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #11 9 too high 21 
Custom API for WP 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 R REST API Log 5K+ · 3.6★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 
JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 
MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) 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.