wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sendinblue”
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 “sendinblue”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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
GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 1 too low 2 
Integration for Elementor forms – Sendinblue 8K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
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 4 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471)
wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 
Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #14 ↓4 6 too low 9 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #17 7 too low 11 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #18 ↓4 7 too low 12 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #21 ↑3 9 too low 13 
AcyMailing – An Ultimate Newsletter Plugin and Marketing Automation Solution for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (157)
wp.org #16 3 too low 14 
Add-on Brevo for Gravity Forms 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #4 10 too high 15 
MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (438) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 
YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
Brevo for WooCommerce 30K+ · 3.4★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓2 10 too high 18 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑3 3 too high 19 
Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52)
wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 
Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #6 15 too high 22 
SmartSMTP 2K+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑5 10 too high 23 
Brevo SMTP – YaySMTP 300+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #13 10 too high 24 
SMTP Mail Control for MailPoet 300+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓3 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.