wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “seo plugins”
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 “seo plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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
SEO SIMPLE PACK shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #1 2 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #2 3 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #3 4 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #4 5 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #5 6 
The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36)
wp.org #9 ↑4 1 too high 11 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 
Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51)
wp.org #12 ↓1 13 
SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48)
wp.org #13 ↓1 14 
CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62)
wp.org #14 15 
SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171)
wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73)
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 SEO SIMPLE PACK 100K+ · 4.6★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓2 8 too high 20 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #22 2 too low 21 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #21 22 
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 
SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
noindex SEO 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↑1 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.