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← Rankings

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

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 “sizing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Disabler shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 504 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #1 2 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Additional Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (162) wp.org #4 ↓2 3 too high 8 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too high 9 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Logo Slider WP – Responsive Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery & Logo Showcase 10K+ · 4.5★ (61) wp.org #16 ↓4 2 too low 15 Logo Slider and Showcase 7K+ · 3.9★ (17) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 GutenBee – Gutenberg Blocks 6K+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Album Photostream Flickr Gallery 1K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 ShareThis Share Buttons 10K+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Change WordPress Admin Logo 400+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Product Size Charts Plugin for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Disabler 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too high 23 Plover Kit – Blocks, Patterns, Responsive Layout and Gutenberg Editor Enhancements 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) 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.