wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “resend”
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 “resend”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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
Resend shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder places #7 on merit, 4.4★ from 1397 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 #1 2 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 
Send Emails with Resend 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #2 6 too high 9 
Email Log 80K+ · 4.2★ (43)
wp.org #9 10 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 2 too low 11 
Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25)
wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 
Integration for Mailchimp and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 8K+ · 5.0★ (30)
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 
Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47)
wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15 
SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25)
wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 
WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36)
wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 
GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓1 11 too high 18 
GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↓5 3 too low 19 
Icegram Mailer – Reliable Email Deliverability, No-Code SMTP Replacement & Email Logs for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 20 
Power Boost for Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too high 21 Resend 300+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement
wp.org #5 ↑2 16 too high 22 
Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce – OTP Verification, Block Fake Signups 2K+ · 4.2★ (20) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 
Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #13 10 too high 24 
Retrigger Notifications Gravity Forms 1K+ · 4.7★ (6) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 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.