Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “samples”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

Free Product Samples for WooCommerce – Try Before You Buy, Request Samples by Mail shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 515 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #1 2 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #2 3 Product Import Export for WooCommerce – CSV Product Importer & Exporter 80K+ · 4.6★ (413) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Widget Importer & Exporter 200K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #8 ↓4 2 too low 7 WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #10 ↓5 3 too low 8 Master Slider – Responsive Touch Slider 60K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #11 ↓5 3 too low 9 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #9 10 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #18 ↓7 8 too low 11 Free Product Sample for WooCommerce 200+ · 3.6★ (34) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 too high 12 WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) wp.org #13 ↓5 1 too low 13 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #24 ↓9 11 too low 14 Latest Post Shortcode 4K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 Essential Real Estate 7K+ · 4.3★ (52) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 CP Multi View Events Calendar 900+ · 4.3★ (46) wp.org #16 ↓4 17 Product Generator for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓4 3 too high 18 Ocean Extra 400K+ · 3.3★ (67) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 Shared Albums for Google Photos 500+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 Free Product Samples for WooCommerce – Try Before You Buy, Request Samples by Mail 60+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #3 ↓2 17 too high 21 WP Dynamic Keywords Injector 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓4 4 too high 22 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓5 10 too high 23 CSV Importer Plus for ACF 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Simple Product Sample 50+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 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.