Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

Forma Favicon shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 683 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 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #1 2 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 F Favicon Rotator 20K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Branda – White Label & Branding, Free Login Page Customizer 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #22 ↓1 14 too low 9 Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer 6K+ · 4.3★ (109) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #11 12 Coming soon and Maintenance mode 8K+ · 4.2★ (83) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 WP Favicon Remover 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 10 too high 14 Infinity23 (Formerly Tag Manager) – One Plugin That Replaces All The Rest 20K+ · 4.7★ (53) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Contextual Adminbar Color 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Each domain a page 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Forma Favicon 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Product Labels, Quick View, Buy Now, Pre-Orders, Frequently Bought Together & More for WooCommerce – Merchant 9K+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #20 21 Advanced Settings 3 200+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Blaminhor Essentials – SEO, Cache, Backup, SMTP, Redirects, Broken Links, Cookie Banner, Hide Login & More 90+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Alada Favicon – Conditional Site Icons 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 Unused Media Checker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.