Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “shared hosting”

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 “shared hosting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Livid – Video Hosting shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 300+ 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

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 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 wp.org
1 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #1 2 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #4 5 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #5 6 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too high 11 Active Directory/LDAP Integration for Cloud & Shared Hosting Platforms 40+ · 4.9★ (39) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 VdoCipher: Secure Video Player and Hosting 2K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Livid – Video Hosting 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 Social Sharing Plugin – Kiwi 4K+ · 4.1★ (18) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 Add From Server Lite 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 W WPBase Cache 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Cache Using Gzip 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 atec Hosting Check 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 Static Porter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 PlatformInfo 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.