wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “select all”

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 “select all”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

RY City Select for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #1 2

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #2 3

WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #8 ↑3 4 too low 5

Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #5 6

Image Regenerate & Select Crop 7K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #6 7

WP All Export – Drag & Drop Export to Any Custom CSV, XML & Excel 100K+ · 4.5★ (415) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #17 8 too low 10

Select All Categories and Taxonomies, Change Checkbox to Radio Buttons 3K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #3 7 too high 11

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12

All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13

Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15

Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16

All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17

Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #14 4 too high 19

Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20

CartSuite – Cart All In One For WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (51) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21

WP All Export – Product Export Add-On for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too low 22

RY City Select for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23

All Sources Images – Free Images from Pixabay, Unsplash, Openverse, Pexels & Giphy 400+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 A Advanced Custom Fields: Image Size Select Field 300+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #23 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.