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

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 “small”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Small Package Quotes – Worldwide Express Edition shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 90+ 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

Germanized for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 496 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 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #1 2 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Ever Accounting – Accounting & Invoicing Solution for Small Businesses 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #2 ↑2 2 too high 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 Jetpack CRM – Clients, Leads, Invoices, Billing, Email Marketing, & Automation 30K+ · 4.3★ (152) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #14 ↑4 6 too low 9 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #16 ↓6 5 too low 12 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 MWW Scheduled Post Trigger 60K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too high 14 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #20 ↑2 6 too low 15 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Captcha Code 100K+ · 3.9★ (35) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #22 ↑2 3 too low 20 WP-Yomigana 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 Small Package Quotes – Worldwide Express Edition 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓2 18 too high 23 Small Package Quotes – UPS Edition 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 Small Package Quotes – For Customers of FedEx 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 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.