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

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 tools”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

S

Ranked above its merit

Site Health Tools shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 1872 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #3 4 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #4 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 6 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #7 8 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 ↑4 1 too high 10 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (22) wp.org #19 ↑5 4 too low 16 My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Alt Text Tools 800+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 SMNTCS Google Webmaster Tools 6K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Catch Web Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 FrontBlocks Site Tools 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 S Site Health Tools 500+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 W WP Site Verification tool 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #23 1 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.