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

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

Relevant – Related, Featured, Latest, and Popular Posts by BestWebSoft shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Germanized for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 496 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #1 2

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61) wp.org #2 2 too high 5

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 6

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 #9 ↓1 3 too low 7

Export media with selected content (by DKZR) 40K+ · 4.5★ (93) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9

Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10

Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #13 ↓4 3 too low 11

WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↑3 4 too high 12

Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13

Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14

Slim Maintenance Mode 10K+ · 5.0★ (63) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15

SEO WRITING – AI Writer for SEO & AI Search 20K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16

Lightweight Sidebar Manager 80K+ · 4.2★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17

CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18

White Label CMS 200K+ · 4.7★ (114) wp.org #24 6 too low 19

Performant Translations 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20

CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #15 5 too high 21

ElasticPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23

Sticky Buttons – Floating Buttons Builder 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24

Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓1 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.