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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “spike”

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 “spike”, 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

Fastly shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ 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

NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization places #4 on merit, 4.3★ from 311 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Koko Analytics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics 70K+ · 5.0★ (245) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 Dynamic Front-End Heartbeat Control 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 WP GPX Maps 4K+ · 4.1★ (59) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10 Plausible Analytics 10K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #17 ↓5 7 too low 11 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #15 ↓5 4 too low 12 Known Agents – Track AI Bots and Crawlers, Block Scrapers, Analyze LLM Referral Traffic 1K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 AF Companion – Starter Sites, Speed Booster & Growth Suite for Professional Publishing 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #20 ↓4 7 too low 14 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 15 RumbleTalk Group Chat for Communities & Live Events 600+ · 3.4★ (21) wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too low 16 P Preload Fullpage Cache 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 Simple Disable XML-RPC 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Product FAQ for WooCommerce — Tab, Accordion & AI FAQ Generator 80+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓4 4 too low 19 Dashboard and Analytics for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too low 20 Fastly 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓4 8 too high 21 Custom SMTP: Email Deliverability – FREE & Easy-to-use 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 CB Bot Guard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 BudgetGuard 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too high 24 DateSweep – Bulk Update Post & Page Dates 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓4 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.