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

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 “switches”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

A

Ranked above its merit

Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 4K+ 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

Variation Swatches for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 926 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #1 2 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #2 3 Pricing Table by Supsystic – Responsive Pricing Plans & Comparison Tables 10K+ · 4.1★ (288) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 WPCore Plugin Manager 9K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 morkva UA Shipping – Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, Rozetka, Nova Global 1K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Flexible Spacer Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #19 ↓5 10 too low 10 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too high 11 Re-add text underline and justify 50K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 WordPress Beta Tester 2K+ · 4.0★ (47) wp.org #12 ↓3 13 SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #14 ↓4 1 too low 14 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too low 16 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #24 ↓3 8 too low 17 Pretty Google Calendar 4K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #23 ↓6 5 too low 19 The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 A Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 17 too high 21 Disable Block Editor FullScreen mode 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓4 4 too high 22 Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #20 ↓5 2 too high 23 Default Post Author 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓4 12 too high 24 WP Disables Updates 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 6 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.