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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “self host”

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 “self host”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2 Flying Analytics: Self-Host Google Analytics v4 with Speed Optimization 4K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #5 6 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #6 7 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #10 ↓3 3 too low 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 ↑17 1 too high 9 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #22 ↓3 10 too low 13 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #24 ↓3 11 too low 14 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Rapls AI Chatbot – Self-Hosted RAG & MCP Server 80+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #8 ↑1 7 too high 16 Jooosi Fon – Use Custom Fonts, Google Fonts or Adobe Fonts 4K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 Local Fonts Uploader – Upload & Host Any Font Locally for GDPR 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 Host Domination Booking Engine: Calendar Sync & Reservation System 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 NIBWP – Self-Hosted MCP Server – Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor & Any AI Agent via MCP 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 WhoKnew Signal – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications & PWA 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 PushAI – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 Host Domination Welcome Book: Free Digital Guest Guide for Vacation Rentals, B&Bs & Hotels 20+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.