wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “reliability”
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 “reliability”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 7 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
YITH WooCommerce Brands Add-On shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 8K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 537 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Perfect Brands for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.7★ (414)
wp.org #12 4 too low 9 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 
Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 2 too high 11 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537)
wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 
SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25)
wp.org #11 3 too high 15 
WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95)
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 
Instant Images – One-click Image Uploads from Unsplash, Openverse, Pixabay, Pexels, and Giphy 100K+ · 4.8★ (59)
wp.org #21 5 too low 17 
Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 4 too high 18 
Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52)
wp.org #18 19 
OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 20 
CDN Enabler 10K+ · 4.1★ (51)
wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 
JSM Force HTTP to HTTPS / SSL – No Setup, Fast and Reliable 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 5 too high 22 YITH WooCommerce Brands Add-On 8K+ · 4.0★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑1 13 too high 23 
SKT Templates – 100% Free Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) not PHP-currentheavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #17 6 too high 24 
Payment Gateway for Authorize.net for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #22 2 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.