wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “regular posts”

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 “regular posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4132 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

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #2 3

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #3 4

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #4 5

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #12 4 too low 9

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #13 4 too low 10

Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163) wp.org #9 1 too high 11

Australia Post WooCommerce Extension 3K+ · 4.4★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #5 6 too high 12

DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #15 3 too low 13

WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #14 1 too low 14

AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84) wp.org #17 3 too low 15

Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #19 4 too low 16

Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #24 8 too low 17

JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #11 6 too high 18

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #22 4 too low 19

Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #8 12 too high 21

Custom Post Carousels with Owl 2K+ · 4.6★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #18 3 too high 22

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too high 23

Post Timeline 700+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #23 24

GS Posts Grid – Recent Posts, Category Posts, Post Filter, Slider & List 100+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #16 8 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.