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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “spf record”

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 “spf record”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

SMTP for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Stop WP Emails Going to Spam 10K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #1 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #4 5 Customer Engagement System – Popup Builder, Forms, CRM & Email Marketing Automation 9K+ · 4.5★ (340) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Easy Form Builder by WhiteStudio – Drag & Drop Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Email Auth – DKIM, SPF, DMARC, Bounce Address, From Address 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Deliverability – pass DKIM, SPF, DMARC & more 700+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Recapture for Easy Digital Downloads 500+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Double Opt-In for Contact Form 7 – Secure, GDPR-Compliant Email Verification 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Cloud Maestro – WAF Security Suite for Cloudflare 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 MailHawk — Simple SMTP, Email Delivery, and Email Logging 300+ · 3.4★ (10) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 InboxAuth – Email Security, Setup SPF / DKIM, DMARC & Check Email Authenticity 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Official CleverReach® Plugin for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 CenterShield – Site Security: Login Protection, 2FA, File Protection & Malware Scan 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Email Essentials 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Custom SMTP: Email Deliverability – FREE & Easy-to-use 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Authority Mailer SMTP – WordPress SMTP Plugin with Email Logs 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 SMTP for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Meser10 Email Auth Check — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 WM Guard 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Mailwick Site Audit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Email Health Check & Log for WooCommerce – SPF, DKIM, DMARC & Alerts — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Does My Email Work – Email Deliverability Test 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.