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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ses”

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 “ses”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 2 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.

A

Ranked above its merit

API Mailer for AWS SES shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20+ 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

WPS Hide Login places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 2111 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 2 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 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #17 ↓3 9 too low 9 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 SMTP for Amazon SES – YaySMTP 3K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #4 ↑1 7 too high 12 PagBank / PagSeguro e Vindi para WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (64) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #24 ↓3 11 too low 14 Slideshow SE 2K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #8 ↓1 6 too high 15 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 Datafeedr WooCommerce Importer 4K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 T Translation with DeepL API 3K+ · 4.0★ (29) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too low 18 Mantenimiento web 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓3 3 too high 19 Protección de datos – RGPD 7K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too high 20 PDF Invoices Italian Add-on for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Mailster AmazonSES Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Bold pagos en linea 5K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too high 23 Seznam Webmaster 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 A API Mailer for AWS SES 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑4 11 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.