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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “safe exit”

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 “safe exit”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Popup for Elementor shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools places #3 on merit, 4.6★ from 535 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1139) wp.org #1 2 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools 30K+ · 4.6★ (535) wp.org #10 ↓2 7 too low 4 AI ChatBot for WooCommerce – WoowBot 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #4 5 Instant Popup Builder – Popup Maker for Videos, Forms, Offers, Announcements, Galleries & Exit Intent 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Bricksable for Bricks Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Hyve Lite – AI Chatbot Trained on WordPress Posts, Pages, Products & More with ChatGPT 7K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 GSheetConnector – Elementor Forms Google Sheet Connector to Sync Submissions to Google Sheets 9K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 AI Chatbot for WooCommerce & Live Chat – onWebChat 700+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Pixeline’s Email Protector 900+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too low 12 Debugger & Troubleshooter 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 VPN Guard – Block VPN, Proxy, Bots & Anonymous Visitors 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓2 9 too low 14 CPS | Age Verification 800+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 GranTech IP Firewall for AbuseIPDB 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑5 6 too high 16 Usermaven 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓3 2 too high 17 Custom Code 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too high 18 FooConvert – AI Popup Builder for Flyouts, Overlays & Bars 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 EVelum Safe Browsing — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 Livid – Video Hosting 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 CartRevival – Abandoned Cart Recovery & Live Cart Monitor 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 22 I InstaMigrate 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 Init Ad Engine – Flexible, Multi-Format, Secure 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 Popup for Elementor 1K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #7 17 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.