wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “show github”

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 “show github”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

JSM Show Order Metadata for WooCommerce HPOS shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #7 4 too low 4

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too low 5

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #9 ↑4 4 too low 6

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #13 ↑2 7 too low 7

Omnibus — show the lowest price 10K+ · 4.1★ (51) wp.org #6 1 too high 8

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #17 ↓5 8 too low 10

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #18 8 too low 11

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #14 3 too low 12

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #8 5 too high 14

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #22 8 too low 15

JSM Show User Metadata 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #2 13 too high 16

Show Me The Cookies 400+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓1 12 too high 17

SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19

WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #19 20

Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21

JSM Show Order Metadata for WooCommerce HPOS 700+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↓1 16 too high 22

All In One Lightbox – show any media in beautiful popups 3K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23

JSM Show Registered Shortcodes 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #10 13 too high 24

SMNTCS Show Symlinked Plugins 60+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 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.