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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “speak and text”

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 “speak and text”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 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

ChatBot.com Conversational AI Support shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Notification for Telegram places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 71 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 ResponsiveVoice Text To Speech 7K+ · 3.9★ (34) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Testimonial – Testimonial Slider and Showcase Plugin 20K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too low 9 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 LIQUID SPEECH BALLOON 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 SpeakOut! Email Petitions 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Voice Audio Widgets – Voice recorder with Forms, AI Powered STT, TTS, Transcriptions, Language Teaching 300+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 AI Text to Speech – TTS Plugin For WordPress 80+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Print, PDF & Email by PrintFriendly 20K+ · 3.8★ (237) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 MyCryptoCheckout – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 100+ altcoins for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 ChatBot.com Conversational AI Support 1K+ · 3.7★ (10) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 QA Assistants – Driven by data 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Super Advent Calendar 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 F FameTheme Demo Importer 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.