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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “spell day”

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 “spell day”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

APG Withdrawal for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WC Fields Factory places #9 on merit, 4.3★ from 168 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 4 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #15 10 too low 6 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 WCFM Membership – WooCommerce Memberships for Multivendor Marketplace 10K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168) wp.org #24 ↓1 15 too low 10 bbPress Login Register Links On Forum Topic Pages 600+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Time Machine 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 PayPal Enterprise Payments (formerly Braintree) for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.6★ (50) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 FICTBASE 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 BundleBoss – Product Bundles, Mix and Match & Build a Box for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 15 WooCommerce Accommodation Bookings 1K+ · 2.1★ (16) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 LTL Freight Quotes – R+L Carriers Edition 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 APG Withdrawal for WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Matnban — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 GameEngine – Gamification, Points, Badges & Leaderboards 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 SoftGlaze AI Crawler Monitor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 PCrisk Trust Badge – Website Security Seal & Malware Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 ContentSage – AI Blog Writer with Verified Citations & SEO Schema — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 StoreGauge AI for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 RoxyAPI: Astrology, Vedic, Forecast, Human Design, Numerology 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.