wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “switching”
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 “switching”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20. 4 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.
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.
Ranked above its merit
Login as User or Customer — User Switching shows at wp.org #19 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238)
wp.org #1 2 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 
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 #6 ↑3 7 
Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↑3 8 
Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489)
wp.org #8 ↓4 9 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Post Type Switcher 200K+ · 4.8★ (255)
wp.org #11 ↑10 1 too low 11 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 
Stop Spammers Classic 20K+ · 4.4★ (243)
wp.org #14 ↑6 2 too low 13 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #17 ↑7 4 too low 14 
Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 2 too high 15 
Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470)
wp.org #21 ↓10 6 too low 16 
Videopack 10K+ · 4.8★ (63)
wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #13 ↑5 4 too high 18 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓9 2 too high 19 
Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 
Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34)
wp.org #18 ↓5 2 too high 21 
Plugin Load Filter 7K+ · 4.8★ (52)
wp.org #20 ↓5 1 too high 22 
Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63)
wp.org #22 ↓6 23 
Milo Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce and Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓5 1 too low 24 Login as User or Customer — User Switching 100+ · 3.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.