wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “selected”
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 “selected”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 5 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
Hostinger Tools shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 40 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Export media with selected content (by DKZR) 40K+ · 4.5★ (93)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #2 3 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #3 4 
Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237)
wp.org #10 2 too low 9 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 
Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367)
wp.org #11 1 too low 11 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 
Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116)
wp.org #9 3 too high 13 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
ACF: Better Search 40K+ · 4.9★ (165)
wp.org #15 1 too low 15 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #23 8 too low 16 
Duplicate Page 3M+ · 4.8★ (466)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35)
wp.org #16 2 too high 19 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #22 3 too low 20 
Plugin Load Filter 7K+ · 4.8★ (52)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61)
wp.org #21 22 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) host-installed base
wp.org #12 10 too high 23 
CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 
Selected Kpi Integration 60+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #14 10 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.