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

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 “send”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Bulk Mail Send shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 626 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 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 #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #14 ↑9 5 too low 10 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #18 ↑2 8 too low 11 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #15 ↑6 3 too low 13 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Smart Send 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑1 9 too high 15 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #24 ↓5 9 too low 16 Send Emails with Resend 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 9 too high 17 S Send From 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↑3 5 too high 19 GHL Gravity Bridge – Send Gravity Forms leads to GHL CRM 600+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #16 ↑8 3 too high 20 Send Emails — Newsletters, Automation & Email Marketing for WordPress 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑2 10 too high 21 SMTP for SendGrid – YaySMTP 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 22 Add WPGraphql Send Mail 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Bulk Mail Send 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 GHL Contact Form 7 Bridge – Send Contact Form 7 leads to GHL CRM 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.