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

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 “shrink”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Sticky Elementor – Sticky Header, Menu Color After Sticky, Logo Swap & Back to Top Button shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 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

Highcompress Image Compressor places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 143 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 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #1 2 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #2 3 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #3 4 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #4 5 Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 200K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too low 6 Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Staatic – Static Site Generator for WordPress 3K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #7 ↑3 8 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #12 ↓4 4 too low 9 Responsive Tabs 4K+ · 4.2★ (41) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Highcompress Image Compressor 600+ · 4.9★ (143) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 CubeWP Framework 3K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Grid Gallery – for Photo Gallery, Image Gallery & Portfolio 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too low 15 All-in-One Sticky Anything – Click to Call, Fixed Widget, Sticky Header, Menu & Sidebar 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Squeeze – Browser-Based Image Compression & WebP Converter (No API, No Limits) 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓3 17 Stratum Widgets for Elementor 20K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Options for Block Themes 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 Dynamic Header & Navigation for Block Themes 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Custom Site Logo 1K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓5 3 too low 21 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Sticky Elementor – Sticky Header, Menu Color After Sticky, Logo Swap & Back to Top Button 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 14 too high 23 JPEG PNG Compressor 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 Card Elements for WPBakery 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.