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← Rankings

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

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 “result”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 4 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

HD Quiz – Save Results Light shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7 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 #7 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too low 11 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #9 ↑3 2 too high 12 Search Exclude 50K+ · 4.8★ (218) wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too low 13 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Educare – Students & Result Management System 600+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #12 ↓3 8 too high 21 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 HD Quiz – Save Results Light 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓3 10 too high 24 EDU Results Publishing – Student Result Management 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.