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

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 “retirement”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

AC’s Retirement Nest Egg Calculator shows at wp.org #3 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 80+ 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

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too low 2 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 EU VAT Assistant for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #17 ↑4 13 too low 5 Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) 9K+ · 4.6★ (244) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 AC’s Retirement Age Calculator 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 AC’s Retirement Savings Calculator 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 6 too high 8 AxiaChat AI – Free AI Chatbot (Answers Customers Automatically) 500+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 WP Guidant | Guided Selling & Product Recommendation Quiz Plugin 300+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 AC’s Retirement Nest Egg Calculator 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 USPS Simple Shipping for Woocommerce 8K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #23 ↑1 12 too low 12 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13 AC’s Savings Calculator 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 FinCalc Toolkit – Financial Calculators 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 P PayPal API Subscriptions 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Smart Calculators Suite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Fetch SPAD 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Advisers Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Saturne Démarches 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too high 20 Ecreate Calculators – Loan, Mortgage, BMI and Business Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 InfoWebPlus: Redirect Content Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Planafolio Finanzrechner – ETF-Sparplanrechner & Zinseszinsrechner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 DuoPort Connector for OpenCode — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 nextSIM for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.