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

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 “smart”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

WPGraphQL Smart Cache shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #1 2 Smart Coupons For WooCommerce Coupons 30K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Smart COD for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #16 ↓4 9 too low 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #15 ↓6 7 too low 9 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #10 ↑5 1 too low 10 Smart User Slug Hider 2K+ · 4.9★ (55) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 WPC Smart Wishlist for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Smart Archive Page Remove 6K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #19 ↓5 6 too low 14 Smart Manager – Bulk Edit for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (288) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 WPC Smart Compare for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Smart Image Resize for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 S Smart Custom Fields 50K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 YMC Filter 4K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #21 ↓5 1 too low 21 Smart Variations Images & Swatches for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (142) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Smart phone field for Gravity Forms 5K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 WPGraphQL Smart Cache 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓4 9 too high 24 Smart Auto Upload Images – Import External Images 5K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.