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

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 memory”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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 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 #1 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 15 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

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6 SQLite Object Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too high 10 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (200) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15 APCu Manager 10K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 Plugin Memory Usage 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 15 too high 17 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #21 ↓2 4 too low 18 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 Stock Sync for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 OPcache Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 {eac}ObjectCache – a persistent object cache using SQLite & APCu to cache WordPress objects. 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 FooGallery Migrate 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Yac Object Cache 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.