Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “simply”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

SimplyBook.me – Booking and reservations calendar shows at wp.org #8 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Backup Migration places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1338 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 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #3 4 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Simply Show Hooks 1K+ · 5.0★ (63) wp.org #5 6 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #11 ↑3 4 too low 8 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #12 ↓3 3 too low 10 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #13 ↑7 3 too low 11 Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3156) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Qyrr – simply and modern QR-Code creation 2K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #10 ↑2 8 too high 19 ( (Simply) Guest Author Name 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #17 ↑5 3 too high 21 SimplyRETS Real Estate IDX 200+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 S Simply Excerpts 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓1 15 too high 23 Simply Login Register 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 SimplyBook.me – Booking and reservations calendar 30K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #8 16 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.