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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “remove bloat”

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 “remove bloat”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post Views Counter places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1236 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #1 2 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #3 ↑2 2 too high 6 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #10 ↑3 2 too low 9 Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too low 10 Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 too high 14 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #11 ↑3 3 too high 15 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #16 ↑3 1 too low 16 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 ↑4 10 too high 18 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #12 ↓2 8 too high 21 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Falcon – Cache, Performance, Security, Cleanup, and Tweaks 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Liteweight Podcast – run your podcast site without the bloat 400+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Berq Used CSS – Remove Unused CSS Automatically 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 9 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.