wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “send emails”
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 emails”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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
Send Emails with Resend shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 169 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #2 ↑2 3 
Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 too high 4 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↓3 5 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #12 6 too low 7 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #10 ↓4 3 too low 8 
Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too low 10 
Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169)
wp.org #19 ↑4 7 too low 13 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #16 3 too low 14 
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #17 3 too low 15 
Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56)
wp.org #15 16 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #24 ↓3 8 too low 17 
Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83)
wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 
Preview E-mails for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (85)
wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 
Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47)
wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Send Emails with Resend 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #5 16 too high 22 
Additional Custom Emails & Recipients for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 
Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #9 14 too high 24 
Send Emails — Newsletters, Automation & Email Marketing for WordPress 50+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑2 13 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.