Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “rewriting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Perform – Optimize Performance shows at wp.org #9 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Better Font Awesome places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 88 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #1 2 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #2 3 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #3 4 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 CDN Enabler 10K+ · 4.1★ (51) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Newsletters, Email Marketing, SMS and Popups by Omnisend 100K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 AI WP Writer – SEO content generator, chatGPT, Gemini, Claude 3K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too low 10 Better Font Awesome 60K+ · 4.5★ (88) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #17 ↑4 6 too low 12 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #23 ↓8 8 too low 16 Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 Offload Media – Cloud Storage 1K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Perform – Optimize Performance 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 ezCache 10K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Pixellize Image Optimizer 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 AutoWP – AI Content Writer & Rewriter 900+ · 3.8★ (15) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Image Quality Control | Still BE 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 QODE Optimizer 30K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.