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

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 “searched”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

SVG Icon Block shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #1 2 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #2 3 ACF: Better Search 40K+ · 4.9★ (165) wp.org #3 4 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #5 6 BP Profile Search 5K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Search in Place 3K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #8 9 EasyMedia – Increase Media Upload File Size | Role-Based Upload Limit | Increase Execution Time 70K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 Admin Search 1K+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Conditional Fields for Elementor Form – Apply Conditional Logic 10K+ · 4.7★ (32) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 Rublon Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) 400+ · 4.2★ (88) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 StockPack – Stock photos and AI images from Unsplash, Adobe Stock, Freepik and more 7K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #14 15 Ultimate Multisite – WordPress Multisite SaaS & WaaS Platform 100+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Remote Website Management by Watchful 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Email Auth – DKIM, SPF, DMARC, Bounce Address, From Address 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 IMPress for IDX Broker 7K+ · 3.1★ (34) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Amazing Affiliates – Toolkit for Amazon Associates with Amazon Product Blocks and Amazon PAAPI5 / Creators API integration 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 WC Search Orders By Product 800+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 SVG Icon Block 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 Integrate Razorpay for Contact Form 7 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Full-Text Search 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Security Headers 800+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.