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

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 testing campaigns”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Unbounce Landing Pages shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.2★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #1 2

Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #2 3

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #7 3 too low 5

HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #3 2 too high 6

If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

Personizely — A/B Testing, Personalization, Popups & CRO 300+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #6 2 too high 9

Mailmunch Forms for Mailchimp 10K+ · 4.6★ (372) wp.org #15 6 too low 10

BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #21 10 too low 12

UpsellWP – Upsell and Related Products Offers for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (150) wp.org #17 5 too low 13

Groundhogg — CRM, Newsletters, and Marketing Automation 2K+ · 4.8★ (150) wp.org #22 9 too low 14

WPFunnels – Funnel Builder for WooCommerce with Checkout & One Click Upsell 5K+ · 4.9★ (175) wp.org #24 10 too low 15

PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #14 1 too high 16

Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #8 8 too high 17

MailerPress – Email Marketing, Newsletter, Email Automation & WooCommerce Emails 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #18 1 too low 18

SendPulse Free Web Push 500+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #13 5 too high 19

Klaviyo 100K+ · 2.8★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #10 9 too high 20

Unbounce Landing Pages 10K+ · 3.2★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #9 11 too high 21

Hafenstudios Ads – Ad Manager, AdSense & Banner Ads 100+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #23 2 too low 22

abtestkit – AB testing for WooCommerce 10+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too high 23 W Wbcom Designs – WB Ad Manager 300+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 4 too high 24

Amplitude – Analytics, Session Replay, A/B testing and CDP for your website 700+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 8 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.