Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “spring”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Festival Snow Effect shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 60+ 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.

Buried gem

Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 157 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Divi Carousel Lite – Make Carousels for Divi 5 30K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Weather Effect 4K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Block Animations, Motion & Scroll Effects – Ghost Kit 6K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Gift Cards (Gift Vouchers and Packages) (WooCommerce Supported) 1K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 AnimateGL – WebGL & CSS Scroll Animations and Hover Effects for Gutenberg and Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included 40K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too low 8 Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 GutSlider – All in One Slider and Carousel Blocks for Gutenberg 6K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 WC – APG SMS Notifications 300+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #19 ↓5 8 too low 12 Parallax Section Block – Add Parallax Scrolling Effects to Sections 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓2 7 too high 13 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 SiteSkite – Secure MCP & AI WebOps. Connect ChatGPT, Claude, or Any AI Agent via MCP 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 FormsCRM – Connect Forms to CRM directly 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 Random Image Block for Block Editor 90+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Accessibility spring 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 Small Package Quotes – UPS Edition 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓3 7 too high 19 Boom Fest 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 SPRINGGDS® Shipping for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Season Particles 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 DigiFest 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Festival Snow Effect 60+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 Code Live Snow — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.