Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “speed up”

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 up”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Speed Up – JavaScript To Footer shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #2 ↑5 1 too high 4 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #5 ↑5 1 too low 5 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #6 ↑3 7 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #13 ↑6 3 too low 11 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #17 ↓6 6 too low 12 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #14 ↑6 2 too low 13 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #10 ↓9 3 too high 14 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106) wp.org #22 ↓4 7 too low 16 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Speed Up – Browser Caching 700+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too high 19 Sign-up Sheets 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Speed Up – JavaScript To Footer 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #11 ↑2 10 too high 22 Speed Up – Lazy Load 400+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Index WP Users For Speed 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓7 4 too high 24 Speed up Contact Form 7 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #20 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.