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

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

Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1645 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546) wp.org #1 2 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #2 3 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #9 ↓5 4 too low 6 Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #14 ↑2 6 too low 9 FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1815) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #24 ↓5 14 too low 11 Real-Time Find and Replace 70K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 Advanced Woo Search – Product Search for WooCommerce 60K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #18 ↓7 6 too low 13 Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 BP Profile Search 5K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Search and Replace 9K+ · 3.1★ (23) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More 20K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 12 too high 17 CM Search And Replace – Optimize content edits with a powerful search and replace tool 2K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Search Analytics for WP – Site Search Tracking 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 Search & Replace Text in Blocks 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Easy Search Replace – Find & Replace Text/HTML/URLs, Remove Footer Credit 700+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 Search and Replace for Block Editor 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Sigma Search & Replace 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 too high 24 Word Replace 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 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.