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

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

Formidable Forms + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Estimate Submissions shows at wp.org #3 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

weForms – Easy Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder For WordPress places #6 on merit, 4.5★ from 111 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Sprout Invoices – Client Invoicing & Estimates 1K+ · 4.4★ (191) wp.org #1 2 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #8 6 too low 3 Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more 2K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too low 4 Sprout Clients – CRM and Lead Management 30+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 5 Easy Invoice – Invoice Generator, PDF Quotes & Payments 600+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 weForms – Easy Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder For WordPress 10K+ · 4.5★ (111) wp.org #18 ↓1 12 too low 7 WP Forms + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Quote Submissions 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Gravity Forms + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Estimate Submissions 70+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Trendly AI Post – AI Content Generator, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google News Auto Blog 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Knit Pay Pro – Mercado Pago, CCAvenue, Easebuzz, Thawani 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Ninja Forms + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Estimate Submissions 50+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Knit Pay UPI – Paytm for Business, PhonePe Business, BharatPe, HDFC 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Formidable Forms + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Estimate Submissions 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #3 10 too high 14 PaySlate Invoicing and Payment Requests for WordPress with Stripe and Square — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Paystack Gateway for Sprout Invoices 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 SproutOS – Create Creative Sites with AI 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Sprout for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Relatedly — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Rankmint – AI Content & SEO Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 WPR General Posts 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Caldera Forms – Sprout Invoices Integration 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Kripto Para Dönüştürücü ve Döviz Hesaplama 40+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1

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.