Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “share website”

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 “share website”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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

Easy Share Solution For WordPress shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ 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

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #2 3 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #3 4 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #4 5 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 ↑2 2 too low 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too high 10 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #19 ↑3 9 too low 11 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too high 12 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #16 ↑7 4 too low 13 Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share 100K+ · 4.8★ (523) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too high 16 ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #7 ↑2 9 too high 17 Highlight and Share – Unobtrusive and Lightweight Content Sharing 700+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Social Share Button 1K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Share This Image 1K+ · 4.1★ (22) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 CopyProof Website 300+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Social Share Block – Help Visitors Spread Your Content Everywhere 2K+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Easy Share Solution For WordPress 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 Share Link 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.