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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “subscribe widget”

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 “subscribe widget”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Easy Subscribe shows at wp.org #2 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 1K+ 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

Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 394 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Subscribe Forms – Beautiful Email Forms, Embedded Newsletter Forms & MailChimp Form 2K+ · 4.7★ (60) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #14 9 too low 6 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 MailChimp Subscribe Form, Optin Builder, PopUp Builder, Form Builder 2K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Podcast Subscribe Buttons 4K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too low 12 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 WP Tripadvisor Review Widgets 20K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 Download After Email – Subscribe & Download Form Plugin 7K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Mailchimp List Subscribe Form 60K+ · 2.6★ (77) wp.org #8 ↑1 7 too high 16 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #22 ↓4 6 too low 17 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #17 ↑3 18 Another Mailchimp Widget 4K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #21 ↓6 2 too low 20 Email Subscription Popup — Newsletter & GDPR Consent 1K+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 WDesignKit – AI Templates, Widget Builder & MCP Workflow 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Easy Subscribe 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 ↓1 20 too high 23 Image Slider 4K+ · 3.4★ (31) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Easy Subscribe Button Widget 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 19 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.