wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “signup”
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 “signup”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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
Acumbamail shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ 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
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 859 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.
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3 
Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) heavy footprint
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #17 ↓4 12 too low 6 
Laposta Signup Basic 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #1 5 too high 7 
Connect Contact Form 7 to Mailchimp, Brevo, MailerLite, Klaviyo, GetResponse, EmailOctopus, Campaign Monitor & Moosend 40K+ · 4.3★ (190)
wp.org #10 ↑7 3 too low 8 
MailerLite – Signup forms (official) 100K+ · 2.9★ (41) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement
wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #23 14 too low 10 
Retainful – WooCommerce Abandoned Cart, Newsletters, Email Marketing, Signup Forms and Automation 1K+ · 4.9★ (98) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 
FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35)
wp.org #11 12 
Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce – OTP Verification, Block Fake Signups 2K+ · 4.2★ (20) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #7 5 too high 13 
Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too low 14 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 7 too low 15 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓6 3 too low 16 
Genesis eNews Extended 40K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #20 ↓4 4 too low 17 
ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑7 2 too high 18 
Newsletters, Email Marketing, SMS and Popups by Omnisend 100K+ · 4.8★ (17) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too high 19 
MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20 
Constant Contact Forms 20K+ · 2.6★ (107)
wp.org #24 ↓14 4 too low 21 
Mailster WordPress Newsletter Plugin 7K+ · 3.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #19 2 too high 22 
Block for Mailchimp – grow your email list with signup forms 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 Acumbamail 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓2 17 too high 24 
Laposta Signup Embed 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓3 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.