Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “retention”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 8 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

ZS Action Scheduler Optimizer shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 300+ 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

JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate places #11 on merit, 4.5★ from 1056 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 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 FunnelKit Automations – Email Marketing Automation and CRM for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 5.0★ (346) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too high 8 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #10 ↑7 2 too low 9 Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (289) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #21 ↑1 10 too low 12 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #22 ↓3 8 too low 15 WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #15 ↑3 1 too high 17 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #17 ↓8 18 Microsoft Clarity 200K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #8 ↑2 10 too high 19 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Sublium Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Recurring Payments, Subscription Plans & Installments 700+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #9 ↑2 11 too high 21 WS Action Scheduler Cleaner 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 WPC Save For Later for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↑4 4 too high 24 ZS Action Scheduler Optimizer 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 12 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.