wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “seo score”

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 score”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.

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

WPGraphQL Yoast SEO Addon shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ 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

Admin Columns places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1652 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

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 #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #4 1 too high 6

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #6 ↓1 7

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #7 ↑2 8

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #17 7 too low 11

Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #21 ↓4 10 too low 12

ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13

SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #10 3 too high 14

CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #12 2 too high 15

ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #8 ↓1 7 too high 16

SEO Booster 800+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17

GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18

Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #18 ↑4 19

WPGraphQL Yoast SEO Addon 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #11 8 too high 20

SEO Repair Kit – Spam Monitor, Meta Manager, Schema Manager, Internal Linking, SEO Content Monitoring, GSC Integration 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Ubersuggest SEO Tools 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22

Simple SEO 400+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23

WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Yoast SEO 20K+ · 2.8★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #23 24

Bulk Edit YOAST SEO fields in Spreadsheet 1K+ · 2.6★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.