wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “style editor”
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 “style editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 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
Snow Monkey Editor shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251)
wp.org #1 2 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #2 3 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 
Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too high 6 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 
Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 
Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354)
wp.org #9 ↓3 10 
Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint
wp.org #10 11 
HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 
WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95)
wp.org #15 3 too low 13 
Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) heavy footprint
wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 
Style Kits for Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (44)
wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too low 15 
Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint
wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too low 16 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Better Block Editor (BBE) 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #12 5 too high 18 
No Gutenberg? – Choose Where to Use the Block Editor or the Classic Editor 9K+ · 5.0★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #18 19 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 3 too low 20 
Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21 Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 10 too high 22 
Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 
Advanced Classic Editor 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓3 24 
FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #21 3 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.