wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “speed boost”
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 “speed boost”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20.
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
LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #7 ↑1 8 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #6 ↓5 2 too high 9 
Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488)
wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #10 ↑2 11 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #12 13 
NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311)
wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #18 ↑3 4 too low 15 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓1 16 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #21 ↓3 5 too low 17 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization 9K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #9 11 too high 21 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 
WPSpeed – WordPress Speed, Cache & Performance Optimization (Core Web Vitals, PageSpeed 100) 2K+ · 4.9★ (40)
wp.org #22 ↓2 23 
DiveWP – Boost Site Performance with Clear, Actionable Steps 200+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 
Solid Performance – Your No-Code Caching, Performance, & Page Speed Solution 4K+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.