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← Rankings

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

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 “students”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 8 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

LearnPress – Prerequisites Courses shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 105 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 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin – for Online Courses and Education 10K+ · 4.5★ (487) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Educare – Students & Result Management System 600+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #3 ↑1 3 too high 7 LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes 10K+ · 4.8★ (393) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too low 10 ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 Sensei LMS – Online Courses, Quizzes, & Learning 9K+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 WPComplete 1K+ · 4.1★ (43) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 WP Courses LMS – Online Courses Builder, eLearning Courses, Courses Solution, Education Courses 500+ · 4.9★ (22) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 School Management System – WPSchoolPress 1K+ · 4.0★ (21) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 LearnPress – Backup & Migration Tool 5K+ · 3.0★ (16) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Automatic Teachable Student Enrollment for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 Tutor LMS – Migration Tool 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 LearnPress – Course Wishlist 10K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 EDU Results Publishing – Student Result Management 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 LearnPress – Prerequisites Courses 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 LearnPress – Course Review 20K+ · 2.5★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓1 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.