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

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 “subheadings”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

ClipCloud – Image Generation shows at wp.org #3 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400+ 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

Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 66 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Subtitle 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #1 2 Under Construction, Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 10K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #2 3 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 Advanced Accordion Gutenberg Block – Create Beautiful FAQs, Content Accordions & Interactive Tabs 9K+ · 4.1★ (34) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Bricksable for Bricks Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Easy Accordion Block – Accordion, FAQ & Collapsible Content for the Block Editor 7K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #7 8 Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #20 12 too low 9 Topic SEO Content Optimization Tool 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Lite Maintenance Mode 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Listings for Appfolio 200+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Email Subscription Popup — Newsletter & GDPR Consent 1K+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #12 13 Responsive Blocks – Page Builder for Blocks & Patterns 3K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Optimize Social Share 2K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 ClipCloud – Image Generation 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 12 too high 16 Safelayout Brilliant Buttons – WordPress Buttons 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Gum Addon for Elementor 50K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Enter Addons – Ultimate Template Builder for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Text Prompter – Unlimited chatgpt text prompts for openai tasks 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Awesome Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Ovation Elements 10K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Modern Design Library 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Particle Slider 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Amitry Product & Category Slider for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #23 1 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.