Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “suscripcion”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Teenvio – Formulario de suscripción shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Culqi Full Integracion 300+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Doppler Easy Multichannel Marketing enhanced with IA 600+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Suscripciones y Pagos Recurrentes con Mercado Pago para WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Protección de datos – RGPD 7K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #4 5 RSS Redirect & Feedburner Alternative 1K+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #14 9 too low 6 EnvíaloSimple: Email Marketing y Newsletters 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Lawwwing | Textos legales web y Banner de cookies 700+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 Transbank Webpay 10K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 IASM – AI Search Visibility Monitor 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Aceprensa posts — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Acumbamail 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12 Suscriptflech 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Metrepay — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Omnicommerce integración para Lince Indumentaria — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 MercadoPago Plus para WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 Ionix Payments 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Quidra Connector for Idealista — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 PAYCOMET for WooCommerce 2K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 MisterTranslate – AI Translation for WordPress & WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 W Web Cupón 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 W WP_EmailFeedburnerPop 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Teenvio – Formulario de suscripción 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #5 17 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.