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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “save space”

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 “save space”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Save & Go shows at wp.org #2 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1526 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PNG to JPG 10K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #1 ↑3 2 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #7 ↑3 2 too low 6 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #10 ↑5 3 too low 8 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Save & Go 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 ↓1 8 too high 11 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 WP Offload Media Lite for Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, and Google Cloud Storage 30K+ · 3.7★ (115) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #17 ↑3 2 too low 16 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #18 ↓6 2 too low 17 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #23 ↓7 5 too low 19 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #19 20 Safe SVG 1M+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21 SOOZ – AI for SEO – Bulk Generate Focus Keyphrases, Metadata, Alt Text (SEO Autopilot) 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #15 ↑4 6 too high 22 Arconix Shortcodes 3K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too high 23 Image Optimizer – Compress Images and Convert to WebP or AVIF 1M+ · 1.7★ (81) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 PDF Compressor & Watermark – iLovePDF 600+ · 3.4★ (5) 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.