Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “stream flow”

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 “stream flow”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

WP Global Site Tag shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WCFM Marketplace – Multivendor Marketplace for WooCommerce places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 449 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Flow-Flow Social Streams 7K+ · 3.3★ (100) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Groundhogg — CRM, Newsletters, and Marketing Automation 2K+ · 4.8★ (150) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 WCFM Marketplace – Multivendor Marketplace for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (449) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Magic Login – Magic Link & Passwordless Authentication for WordPress – Login Without Password 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 EleSpare – Elementor News, Magazine & Blog Addons with Post Grid 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too low 12 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 ↑4 6 too high 13 FluentPlayer – Video Player With Forms & Lead Capture 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #21 ↑3 7 too low 15 Wbcom Designs – Shortcodes & Elementor Widgets For BuddyPress 600+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #17 ↑2 18 Easy Integration for Dropbox – File Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 IssueM 600+ · 4.1★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 Instaread Audio Player — Text-to-Speech & Article-to-Audio 90+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 Obituary Assistant 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 UWH Site Migrator – WP Migration, Backup & Restore 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Ainbae Receipt Upload for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Castio.live – WordPress Streaming Plugin with Chat (HLS) 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓6

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.