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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “step pricing”

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 “step pricing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 5 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

Role Based Pricing for Woo by Meow Crew shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 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 wp.org
1 Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) wp.org #1 2 Tiered Pricing Table for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (104) wp.org #2 3 Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248) wp.org #3 4 Dynamic Pricing With Discount Rules for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (68) wp.org #4 5 Wholesale Suite – B2B, Dynamic Pricing & WooCommerce Wholesale Prices 20K+ · 4.8★ (546) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 YayPricing – WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts 3K+ · 5.0★ (72) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 WRC Pricing Tables – Responsive CSS3 Pricing Tables 1K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 WholesaleX – Wholesale Pricing & B2B Solution 2K+ · 5.0★ (67) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Min Max Step Quantity Limits Manager for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Price by Quantity & Bulk Quantity Discounts for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Role Based Pricing for Woo by Meow Crew 2K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 RioVizual — Table Blocks for Comparison, Pricing and Pros & Cons 1K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Simple Pricing Table for Elementor 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Discount Rules for WooCommerce – Disco | Dynamic Pricing, Conditions, Bulk, Bundle, BOGO 5K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 WBD Pricing Tables – Gutenberg Pricing Table & Comparison Block 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 MaxtDesign Role-Based Pricing for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.