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

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 “restaurants”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Five Star Restaurant Reviews shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 1471 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #1 2 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too high 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Food Ordering & Table Booking System 5K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #15 ↓3 7 too low 9 WPPizza – A Restaurant Plugin 900+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #21 ↓3 11 too low 11 Orderable – Restaurant & Food Ordering System 5K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 2K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #4 ↓2 8 too high 13 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #18 ↑5 5 too low 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #20 ↓5 6 too low 15 Stylish Price List – Price Table Builder & QR Code Restaurant Menu 3K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 ReDi Restaurant Reservation – Instant Restaurant Booking & Table Reservation System 700+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too high 17 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #22 ↓9 4 too low 19 Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #13 ↑9 6 too high 20 Five Star Restaurant Reviews 400+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 Alex Reservations – Restaurant Reservations, Tables & White-Label Booking System 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 eaSYNC Booking – Hotels, Restaurants & Car Rentals 100+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 Easy restaurant menu manager 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 Restaurant Food Menu by WP Darko – Drag & Drop Restaurant Menu Builder for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓5

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.