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

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 html”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Remove Meta Generators shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 4229 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Remove Footer Credit 60K+ · 4.7★ (88) wp.org #1 2

HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5

Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too low 6

Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #13 6 too low 8

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #19 ↑5 11 too low 9

Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #6 3 too high 10

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #14 4 too low 11

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #5 6 too high 12

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13

Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #23 ↓4 10 too low 14

Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 D Debloat – Remove Unused CSS, Optimize JS 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16

Export WordPress Pages to Static HTML & PDF — Static Site Export 4K+ · 3.8★ (51) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17

Always Edit In HTML 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #10 7 too high 18

WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19

HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #11 8 too high 20

Remove Broken Images 700+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too high 21

Remove Website URL Field From Comment Form 200+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22

Remove Meta Generators 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #9 13 too high 23

Remove layout destroying HTML-Tags 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24

Header Footer Custom Html 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓4 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.