wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “shared ssl”
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 ssl”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
LWS Tools shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
OG — Better Share on Social Media places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 216 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405)
wp.org #1 2 
Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285)
wp.org #2 3 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #3 4 
WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #4 5 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #5 ↑3 6 
Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869)
wp.org #6 ↓1 7 
Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122)
wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 
Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181)
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216)
wp.org #14 4 too low 11 
Gmail SMTP 10K+ · 4.1★ (103)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 
Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50)
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 
Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195)
wp.org #19 6 too low 14 
Active Directory/LDAP Integration for Cloud & Shared Hosting Platforms 40+ · 4.9★ (39)
wp.org #13 1 too high 15 
WP LinkedIn Auto Publish 8K+ · 4.8★ (106)
wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 
Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 17 
Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26)
wp.org #20 3 too low 18 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #11 7 too high 19 
Gravity Forms Eway 500+ · 4.8★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #12 7 too high 20 
Apocalypse Meow 300+ · 5.0★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 
Swift Performance Lite 6K+ · 3.6★ (125)
wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 
Eway Payment Gateway 800+ · 4.3★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 
LWS Hide Login 20K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 
Commerce7 for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #21 3 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.