Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “remover”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Spam Comment Remover shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages places #3 on merit, 4.4★ from 1319 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #1 2 Greateck Product Catalog Remover for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too low 4 Meta Generator and Version Info Remover 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 EXIF Remover 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 WP Favicon Remover 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Image Background Remover 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 CHP Ads Block Detector 800+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Simple Translation Remover 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 GN Product and Image Remover 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 E Empty Tags Remover 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Thumbnail Manager 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Smart Bulk Delete & Content Cleaner for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 R Remove WordPress Version – Hide Generator Meta Tag 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Header Junk Remover 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Spam Comment Remover 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too high 19 WP Version Tag Remover 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 WDF AI Metadata Remover — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 InfoBilisim Query Strings Remover 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 PRyC WP: Languages remover for Divi Builder 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 C CB Lost Password Remover 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 ContentRemover – remover titles, dates, author 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 4 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.