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← Rankings

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

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 “settings”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

AC Advanced Flamingo Settings shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Import / Export Customizer Settings 50K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #1 2 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 C Cryout Serious Theme Settings 40K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #18 ↑4 14 too low 5 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 #17 12 too low 6 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #16 ↓3 10 too low 7 Easy PHP Settings 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #24 ↓5 16 too low 9 Custom PHP Settings 10K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Customizer Export/Import 100K+ · 4.8★ (115) wp.org #21 ↓3 10 too low 12 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #12 13 One Click Demo Import 1M+ · 4.3★ (79) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Emoji Settings 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO 6K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 Migrate Store: Export and Import WooCommerce Settings 1K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too low 17 Advanced Settings 3 200+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Yoast SEO 20K+ · 2.8★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓2 10 too high 19 AC Advanced Flamingo Settings 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑2 14 too high 20 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for All In One SEO 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 Astra Bulk Edit 30K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 P PTAPS – Post Type Archive Pages and Permalink Settings 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Esselink.nu Settings 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 SocialFeeds 40K+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.