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

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 “spy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Imran Table of Contents shows at wp.org #8 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Divi Torque Lite places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 116 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #1 2 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #2 3 Minimal Share Buttons 100+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #3 4 Giuliomax Menu Builder 20+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #24 19 too low 6 Paid Videochat Turnkey Site – HTML5 PPV Live Webcams 10+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Accordion FAQ – FAQ Schema, Block & Shortcode with Live Search 100+ · 3.3★ (4) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Sentio Widgets for Elementor 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Zipped Docs — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 A Axismundi Table of Contents — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Table of Contents – AnchorKit 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Devmont TOC Navigator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Taco Table of Contents — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 CookiePrime Schema Markup Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 Karma Docs – Documentation & Knowledge Base — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 DevMerx AntiCopy – Content Copy Protection — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Webxpart Documentation Hub — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 FlexiTOC – Flexible Table of Contents — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 SAAI Knowledge — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 FM Modular Widgets for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 F Footloom Analytics – Self-Hosted Google Analytics Alternative — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 WhoKnew Directory SEO – Repository Ranking & Readme Optimizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 TOCguide — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Imran Table of Contents — · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #8 16 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.