wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “subscriber display”
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 display”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Display Environment Type shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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.
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
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 #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) – Email Newsletter, Email Marketing, Membership, Subscribers and Landing Pages 40K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too low 7 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
Subscribe2 – Form, Email Subscribers & Newsletters 10K+ · 3.5★ (116)
wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #9 ↓8 1 too high 11 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too low 13 
Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122)
wp.org #12 ↑8 1 too high 14 
Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #13 1 too high 15 
UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #22 ↓8 6 too low 17 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #20 3 too low 18 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120)
wp.org #23 ↓7 3 too low 21 
Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 2K+ · 4.8★ (36)
wp.org #17 ↑5 4 too high 22 
Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Display Environment Type 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 13 too high 24 
Subscriber by BestWebSoft 900+ · 4.6★ (11) 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.