wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “send content”
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 content”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
Smart Send shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 166 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.
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #1 2 
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 
Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↑4 3 too high 6 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 
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 #14 ↓4 7 too low 8 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 
Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166)
wp.org #20 9 too low 12 
Cookies and Content Security Policy 10K+ · 4.9★ (67) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 1 too high 13 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #21 8 too low 14 
PublishPress Planner – Editorial Calendar, Marketing Content, Kanban Board 6K+ · 4.9★ (178)
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 
Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104)
wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too low 17 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↑2 8 too high 19 
Toolkit for Polylang – Translation Inspector & Duplicate Content 10K+ · 4.5★ (33)
wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Smart Send 300+ · 5.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑2 13 too high 21 
Content Mask 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 
Send Emails with Resend 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too high 23 
AI Content Signals 800+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑3 4 too high 24 
Send Emails — Newsletters, Automation & Email Marketing for WordPress 50+ · 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.