wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “subsite”
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 “subsite”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
Fastcache by Host.it shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 709 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #1 2 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Prime Mover – Backup and Migration 10K+ · 5.0★ (141)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132)
wp.org #5 2 too high 8 
NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279)
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205)
wp.org #10 11 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391)
wp.org #13 1 too low 13 
SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402)
wp.org #21 8 too low 14 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318)
wp.org #16 2 too low 15 
XO Security 30K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #8 7 too high 16 
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ · 4.6★ (40)
wp.org #14 3 too high 18 
Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #19 20 
WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard 20K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #17 4 too high 22 
Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25)
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Fastcache by Host.it 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #11 12 too high 24 S Surbma | Yoast SEO Sitemap to robots.txt 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 2 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.