Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “signals”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Crowdsignal Forms shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1268 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 wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1238) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #9 ↑4 2 too low 8 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #14 ↓4 5 too low 10 AI Content Signals 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too high 19 My Agile Privacy® – CMP, Cookie Consent & Privacy Tools 7K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #20 21 Kansleri Cookie Consent 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 Crowdsignal Forms 200K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 17 too high 23 Blacklist Manager – WooCommerce Anti-Fraud, Blacklist & Checkout Verification 2K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 WhoKnew Signal – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications & PWA 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑2 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.