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

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 “shop”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 7 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

ShopPress – Shop Builder for Elementor and WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 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

Polylang places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 2994 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 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4825) wp.org #1 2 Etsy Shop 3K+ · 4.0★ (30) wp.org #2 3 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (835) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (495) wp.org #11 ↑2 7 too low 5 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4958) wp.org #15 ↑1 10 too low 6 Shop Page WP 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 ShopEngine Elementor WooCommerce Builder Addon – All in One WooCommerce Solution with eCommerce Templates & Woo Widgets 100K+ · 4.6★ (212) wp.org #13 ↓5 6 too low 8 Polylang 800K+ · 4.7★ (2994) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 ShopLentor – All-in-One WooCommerce Growth & Store Enhancement Plugin 80K+ · 4.5★ (278) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Magical Shop Builder – WooCommerce Template Builder for Elementor | Shop, Cart, Checkout & Product Page Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #21 ↓4 9 too low 13 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1864) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 One Stop Shop for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 RepairBuddy – Repair Shop CRM & Booking Plugin for WordPress 400+ · 4.9★ (24) wp.org #9 ↓1 6 too high 16 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (923) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 ↑5 9 too high 18 Maximum, Minimum and Multiple Quantity for WooCommerce Shops 3K+ · 4.4★ (36) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 WC Shop Sync – Square Payment Gateway and Product Synchronization for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.5★ (42) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 WP Map Block – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store & Shop Locator, Directory, Listings & Filters 20K+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 Sitewide Discount for WooCommerce: Apply Discount to All Products 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 ShopPress – Shop Builder for Elementor and WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 Trusted Shops Easy Integration for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24 WPC Shop as a Customer for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 12 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.