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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “server usage”

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 “server usage”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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 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

Plugin Memory Usage shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4228 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Server IP & Memory Usage Display 20K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #1 2 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #4 ↑19 2 too low 3 WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 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 #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #22 ↑2 8 too low 15 Disk Usage Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 too high 16 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #23 ↓5 7 too low 17 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included 40K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #19 20 Server Info – System Health & Diagnostics Suite 3K+ · 3.8★ (12) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Plugin Memory Usage 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 MyServerInfo – Memory Usage, PHP Version, Memory Limit, Execution Time, CPU Usage, Disk Usage 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Display Server Info 100+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.