wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “site message”

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 “site message”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

WP Global Site Tag shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 7K+ 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

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #2 3

Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #3 4

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #4 1 too high 6

Restricted Site Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #14 7 too low 8

Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10

My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) not PHP-current wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11

MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 4 too high 12

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #18 ↑2 6 too low 13 M Message Filter for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.9★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #8 5 too high 14

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15

Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑3 3 too high 16

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #23 7 too low 17

Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19

Custom Site Logo 1K+ · 4.7★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20

Message Popup For Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.3★ (3) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21

WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #11 10 too high 22

Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #16 6 too high 23

WPC Smart Messages for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24

WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.