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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “subscriber count”

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 “subscriber count”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 250 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #3 4 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #4 ↑5 1 too high 6 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Connect Contact Form 7 to Mailchimp, Brevo, MailerLite, Klaviyo, GetResponse, EmailOctopus, Campaign Monitor & Moosend 40K+ · 4.3★ (190) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #19 ↓2 6 too low 14 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15 Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓1 11 too high 17 Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Constant Contact Forms by MailMunch 2K+ · 4.2★ (49) wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 Popup and Widget Builder: Lead Capture, Exit Intent, Forms, Quizzes, Gamification 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Init View Count – AI-Powered, Trending, REST API 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓2 10 too high 21 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 Email Subscription Popup — Newsletter & GDPR Consent 1K+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Subscribers – Free Web Push Notifications 1K+ · 2.9★ (8) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 Easy Subscribe Button Widget 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.