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

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 “start”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Selfish Fresh Start shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #1 2 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #3 4 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #5 6 Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (524) wp.org #9 ↑5 3 too low 7 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 ↓3 1 too low 8 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #10 ↑5 2 too low 9 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #14 ↓8 3 too low 12 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #16 17 Joinchat – Enhanced “click to chat” 700K+ · 4.7★ (189) wp.org #17 ↓8 18 Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 Selfish Fresh Start 20+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #6 ↑1 16 too high 23 WPZOOM Addons for Elementor – Starter Templates & Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑1 16 too high 24 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 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.