Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “reports”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 7 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

Sales Report for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PowerBI Embed Reports 500+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #8 6 too low 3 MainWP Child Reports 100K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #11 ↓4 6 too low 6 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #9 ↑13 3 too low 7 WP Client Reports 6K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #7 ↓4 1 too high 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Metorik – Reports & Email Automation for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #4 ↑1 6 too high 11 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #17 ↑4 4 too low 14 Sales Tax Reports For WooCommerce 800+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #6 ↑1 8 too high 15 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too low 16 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD 6K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 Plugin Report 1K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Sales Report for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 BjornTech Accounting Report for WooCommerce 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 CM Custom Reports – Flexible reporting to track what matters most 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 GovernDocs Document Management – Agenda, Minutes, Meetings, Reports & more 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.