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

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 “stopwords”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Qwebmaster AI Auto Tagger shows at wp.org #4 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 10+ 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

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress places #4 on merit, 4.4★ from 61 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 DELUCKS SEO 300+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #1 2 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #11 9 too low 3 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #17 ↓2 14 too low 4 Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61) wp.org #21 ↓1 17 too low 5 Media Rename — OrbitStem 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Searchcraft — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Rapls AI Chatbot – Self-Hosted RAG & MCP Server 80+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓1 15 too low 8 NexLink 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Init Live Search – AI-Powered, Related Posts, Slash Commands 90+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓1 15 too low 10 OZY Smart Search — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Super Fast Blog AI – AI Content Generator, Repurposer & SEO Writer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 SmartTags AI – WooCommerce Product Tags & SEO Automation 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓2 6 too high 13 Coywolf Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Scry Search: Meilisearch for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 O Omila Content Tag Assistant — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Auto Clean URL for SEO 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 VISeek – Easy Custom Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Glance Live Search – WooCommerce AJAX Product Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Finzo Product Search for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Solver Live Chat — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 AI Vector Search (Semantic) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 NexlifyDesk — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Word Count Analysis 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 Qwebmaster AI Auto Tagger 10+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 20 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.