wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “responsive test tool”

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 “responsive test tool”, 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

Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages shows at wp.org #8 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 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 signals wp.org

Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574) wp.org #1 2

Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #2 3

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6

Slider by Soliloquy – Responsive Image Slider for WordPress 30K+ · 4.7★ (1025) wp.org #9 3 too low 7

Responsive Mortgage Calculator 7K+ · 4.4★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #3 4 too high 8

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #10 ↑8 2 too low 9

HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #11 ↑4 2 too low 10

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too low 11

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #14 ↓4 3 too low 12

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #23 11 too low 13

Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14

Disable Responsive Images Complete 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #5 9 too high 15

The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #17 ↓4 18

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19

MOBILOOK — Mobile View & Mobile‑Friendly Test 1K+ · 4.9★ (27) not PHP-current wp.org #12 7 too high 20

My Agile Privacy® – CMP, Cookie Consent & Privacy Tools 7K+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #22 2 too low 21

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22

T4B News Ticker – Responsive News Scroller, Slider, and Animations 7K+ · 4.5★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #24 2 too low 23

Easy Responsive Test 10+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓2 10 too high 24

Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 16 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.