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← Rankings

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

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 “score”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 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

ProScores – Live Scores shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 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 WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339) wp.org #1 2 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #2 ↑6 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 4 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #10 ↑5 5 too low 6 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #9 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #17 ↑4 5 too low 13 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #15 ↓5 2 too low 14 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 BZScore – Live Score 500+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 WP Meteor Website Speed Optimization Addon 20K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 ProScores – Live Scores 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↓2 15 too high 22 WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Cricket Live Score 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 Improve Email Spam Score – Improves forms phpmail spam score 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 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.