wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “running”
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 “running”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
Google for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 268 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 
Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 
Marquee Running Text 5K+ · 4.6★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #1 5 too high 7 
B2BKing — Ultimate WooCommerce B2B and Wholesale Plugin — Wholesale Prices, Bulk Order Form & More 10K+ · 4.9★ (109)
wp.org #7 ↑1 8 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 
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 #11 ↑2 1 too low 11 
Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282)
wp.org #14 ↑3 3 too low 12 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #12 ↓1 13 
MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) not PHP-current
wp.org #17 4 too low 14 
Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (783)
wp.org #20 6 too low 15 
Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992)
wp.org #19 ↑2 4 too low 16 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 
Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026)
wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 
Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132)
wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #4 15 too high 20 
Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656)
wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 D Disable XML-RPC 200K+ · 4.1★ (34)
wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) thin reviews
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.