Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “repository”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Meta for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.1★ average from 481 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Page Builder by SiteOrigin places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1005 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #5 ↑4 1 too low 5 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #7 8 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #8 ↑10 2 too high 11 One Click Demo Import 1M+ · 4.3★ (79) wp.org #4 ↑2 7 too high 12 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Default Featured Image 50K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #22 ↑2 5 too low 18 Album Gallery for Flickr 4K+ · 3.9★ (86) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19 Tainacan 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too high 20 GDPRess | Eliminate external requests to increase GDPR compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #11 ↑9 10 too high 22 Google Analytics for WooCommerce 100K+ · 2.8★ (119) wp.org #19 ↓8 3 too high 23 VK Link Target Controller 30K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 WPZOOM Addons for Elementor – Starter Templates & Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.