Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “store open”

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 “store open”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Store Locator Widget shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 5231 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 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #1 2 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Agile Store Locator 10K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (189) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #21 ↓4 12 too low 10 Ebook Store 700+ · 4.4★ (60) wp.org #10 11 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #24 ↓3 13 too low 12 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too low 14 Store Toolkit – WooCommerce Extensions, Quick Enhancements & Handy Tools 8K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Open Close Store for WooCommerce – Business Hours & Order Scheduling 600+ · 3.4★ (41) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Ultimate Store Kit – Store Builder Addons for Elementor, WooCommerce Store Builder, EDD Store Builder 3K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 WP EasyCart: Shopping Cart and eCommerce Store 3K+ · 4.5★ (206) wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 Custom WP Store Locator 300+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #12 ↑2 7 too high 20 Store Opening Closing Hours Manager 300+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Reseller Store 1K+ · 3.7★ (10) wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too high 22 Store Locator Widget 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Store One – BOGO, Sales Notification, Sticky Add to Cart & Buy Now for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Codeideal Open Fields 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑2 4 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.