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

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 “spacers”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

WPZOOM Addons for Beaver Builder shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ 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

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 259 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 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Flexible Spacer Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #3 4 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 GutenBee – Gutenberg Blocks 6K+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Kubio AI Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (79) wp.org #9 10 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Genesis Blocks 40K+ · 3.7★ (24) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Ibtana – WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.3★ (30) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Calculator Builder – Create an Online Calculator 1K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #16 17 Mailonix – Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (105) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 EmailKit – Email Customizer for WooCommerce & WP 70K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 WPZOOM Addons for Beaver Builder 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 WPC Product Options for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Qi Blocks 60K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 SKT Page Builder 2K+ · 2.7★ (7) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Sticky Elementor – Sticky Header, Menu Color After Sticky, Logo Swap & Back to Top Button 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.