Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

Post As Subdomain Lite shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 1940 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 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940) wp.org #14 ↑4 10 too low 5 Page As Subdomain Lite 500+ · 3.2★ (11) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #9 ↑14 3 too low 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 WP Original Media Path 5K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Ads.txt Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Nginx Helper 200K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too high 12 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Multisite Language Switcher 3K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too low 14 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #21 ↓4 7 too low 15 Images to WebP 9K+ · 4.4★ (32) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 WebToffee WP Backup and Migration 5K+ · 4.5★ (49) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17 Post As Subdomain Lite 40+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #4 13 too high 18 Smart Auto Upload Images – Import External Images 5K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Lightweight Cookie Notice – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 Siteboosterseo 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓4 7 too high 21 Security.txt Manager 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Advanced Email Domain Restriction 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓4 1 too low 23 Remove Cookies From Static Resources 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 Podigee for WordPress: Podcast Episodes to Blog Posts 600+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #19 5 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.