Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “split”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

Yandex Pay and Split shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Split Test For Elementor 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 Split Pay – Stripe Connect Split Payments & Multi-Vendor Marketplace for WooCommerce & FluentCart 100+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 Order Splitter for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.7★ (70) wp.org #10 ↑3 2 too low 9 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #13 ↑8 4 too low 10 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too low 12 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Pagination by BestWebSoft – Customizable WordPress Content Splitter and Navigation Plugin 5K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #24 ↓4 10 too low 15 WC Order Split 20+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Order Splitter for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓2 7 too high 17 WC Backorder Split 40+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #4 13 too high 18 Split Email Providers 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓4 2 too high 19 Virtuaria PagBank Split 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too high 20 KosTeams Payments for Yandex Pay and Yandex Split for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 too low 21 Yandex Pay and Split 600+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 Tamara Checkout 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too high 23 Split Order by category for Woocommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing 10K+ · 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.