wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “team box”
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 “team box”, 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Team Showcase – Responsive Team Members Grid, Slider & Carousel Plugin shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 27820 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165)
wp.org #1 2 
Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115)
wp.org #2 3 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Responsive Team Members Showcase, Team Grid, Team Slider, and Staff List – Smart Team (formerly WP Team) 5K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #5 6 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #6 ↑2 7 
Team Members – A WordPress Team Plugin with Gallery, Grid, Carousel, Slider, Table, List, and More 2K+ · 4.7★ (91)
wp.org #7 8 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too low 9 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 
Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 40K+ · 4.6★ (82)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 
Team Members 20K+ · 4.2★ (53)
wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120)
wp.org #12 ↓6 2 too high 15 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114)
wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 
Team Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (53)
wp.org #10 ↑1 8 too high 19 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #19 20 
Team Builder – Team Member Showcase With Grid and slider, Compatible With Elementor, Gutenberg 6K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 
Dynamic Team Manager – Team Member Showcase with grid, slider, table Elementor widget & shortcode 900+ · 4.6★ (25)
wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 
Social Like Box and Page by WpDevArt 5K+ · 4.2★ (88)
wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 Team Showcase – Responsive Team Members Grid, Slider & Carousel Plugin 2K+ · 3.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 
WP Team – WordPress Team Member Plugin 500+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.