Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “source control”

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

Mediavine Control Panel shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 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 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #1 2 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #2 3 Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #3 ↑3 4 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too low 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #22 14 too low 9 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Add as Preferred Source on Google 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 ↓1 10 too high 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #14 ↓6 1 too high 16 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #5 ↓1 13 too high 19 Data Source for Contact Form 7 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Conditional Blocks – Advanced Content Visibility Control for WordPress 2K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 Block Control 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Open Source Event Calendar 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 RSS Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 11 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.