Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “suggested”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

eRecht24 Legal Texts shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 50K+ 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

Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 134 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 WPC Name Your Price for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #2 3 Address Autocomplete Anything – Google Address Autocomplete for Any Form 900+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #9 ↑2 5 too low 5 WPC Fly Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (61) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #16 ↓3 10 too low 7 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #19 ↑2 12 too low 8 Custom Price for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Products Suggestions for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10 Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #24 ↓15 13 too low 12 XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 Mailonix – Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (105) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #22 ↑2 8 too low 15 Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too high 17 WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #11 ↑4 6 too high 18 Ubersuggest SEO Tools 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Press This 5K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 Protect schema.org markup in HTML editor 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Keyword Research Tool 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Bopo – WooCommerce Product Bundle Builder 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too high 23 MSRP (RRP) Pricing for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 18 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.