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

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 routing”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Tilopay shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 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 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5210) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (808) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Smart Variations Images & Swatches for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (142) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 MoreConvert Wishlist for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.8★ (395) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 WooReer 1K+ · 4.1★ (24) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #22 ↓8 11 too low 12 Contact Form by BestWebSoft – Advanced WP Contact Form Builder for WordPress 30K+ · 4.0★ (292) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ · 5.0★ (133) wp.org #24 ↓3 11 too low 14 Conditional Logic Emails, Fields, Redirect for Elementor Forms 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 Pro Mail SMTP 300+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓1 7 too high 16 BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #20 ↓3 4 too low 17 Support Genix – Helpdesk, AI Chatbot, Knowledge Base & Customer Support Ticketing System 3K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Tilopay 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 SendForce Mail SMTP Relay – SMTP and Email API 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓4 6 too high 21 CodeCareBD – Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 22 AI Builder – Generate pages, blocks, images & translate with AI 500+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23 WPChat – Live Chat & Messaging Widget for Customer Support 6K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24 Card2Crypto Global Payment Gateway 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.