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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “return policy”

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 “return policy”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Flexible Refund for WooCommerce – EU One Click Return shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 2K+ 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.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TermsFeed AutoTerms: Privacy Policy Generator, Cookie Consent, GDPR, CCPA, Terms & Conditions, Disclaimers, Cookies Policy, EULA 70K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 WPSSO Schema Merchant Return Policy Manager 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Return Refund and Exchange For WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #5 6 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 #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Complianz – Terms and Conditions 300K+ · 4.9★ (187) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Withdrawal Button – Easy Return 400+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #6 ↑1 6 too high 13 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Lightweight Accordion 10K+ · 5.0★ (60) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #17 ↑3 1 too high 19 Product Tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 Flexible Refund for WooCommerce – EU One Click Return 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 16 too high 21 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #21 ↑2 22 BuddyPilot Withdrawal – Easy Returns for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Sendcloud for WooCommerce: Automated Shipping, Branded Tracking & Returns 7K+ · 3.0★ (13) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 ClaimPress – Advanced Warranty, Return, Refund & Exchange for WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.