wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sending limits”
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 “sending limits”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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
Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. 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 #1 2 
WPS Limit Login 100K+ · 4.9★ (83)
wp.org #2 3 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #3 4 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #4 5 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7 
Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226)
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft – WordPress Anti-Bot and Security Plugin for Login and Forms 4K+ · 4.6★ (37)
wp.org #7 ↑13 4 too high 12 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #15 ↓2 16 
HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57)
wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 
WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #5 13 too high 19 
Mailgun for WordPress 80K+ · 3.8★ (49)
wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 21 
Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #21 ↓2 22 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↓5 5 too high 23 
Icegram Mailer – Reliable Email Deliverability, No-Code SMTP Replacement & Email Logs for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 
Zoho ZeptoMail 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 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.