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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sms notification”

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 “sms notification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Texty – SMS Notification for WordPress, WooCommerce, Dokan and more shows at wp.org #2 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia places #6 on merit, 4.6★ from 793 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 SMS Alert – SMS Notifications & OTP Login, COD Verification, Abandoned Cart Recovery 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #1 2 miniOrange OTP Login, Verification and SMS Notifications 5K+ · 4.7★ (439) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 WSMS (formerly WP SMS): SMS and OTP for WordPress and WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.1★ (107) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6 Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #12 ↑8 4 too low 9 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #18 ↓7 9 too low 10 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 WC – APG SMS Notifications 300+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 too high 12 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #22 ↓7 9 too low 14 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #17 18 Texty – SMS Notification for WordPress, WooCommerce, Dokan and more 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 16 too high 19 BulkGate SMS Plugin for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Newsletters, Email Marketing, SMS and Popups by Omnisend 100K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 S SMS Extension for Contact Form 7 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 TextMe SMS 500+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 ShopMagic – Twilio SMS 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 10 too high 24 Alpha SMS 200+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.