Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “removes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Hide/Remove Metadata shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

W3 Total Cache places #12 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Remove Footer Credit 60K+ · 4.7★ (88) wp.org #1 2 D Debloat – Remove Unused CSS, Optimize JS 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Smart Archive Page Remove 6K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Disable and Remove Google Fonts | GDPR & DSGVO friendly 100K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 ↑4 5 too low 9 Remove "Powered by WordPress" 20K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 Remove Uppercase Accents 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Remove Category URL – Remove ‘category’ base from category permalinks 40K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Bulk remove posts from category 10K+ · 4.6★ (100) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Remove CPT base 10K+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Remove admin menus by role 8K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #10 ↑2 7 too high 18 Hide/Remove Metadata 20K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19 Smart Attachment Page Remove 900+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Remove Schema 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #14 ↑8 6 too high 21 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 I Image Title Remove 1K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #19 ↑2 3 too high 23 Remove Admin Bar logo 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 Remove Meta Generators 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.