wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “technical terms”

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 “technical terms”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Custom Base Terms shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 70+ 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

WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1146 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #1 2

PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #2 3

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 #4 1 too low 4

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5

BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6

CM Tooltip Glossary 7K+ · 4.3★ (157) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7

Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #15 ↓5 8 too low 8

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10

WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12

All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #7 ↑9 5 too high 13

Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #18 ↓4 5 too low 14

Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15

Vachr Short-Term Rental Reservations 40+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #5 10 too high 16

CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #20 4 too low 17

Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #11 ↓4 6 too high 18

Taxonomy/Term and Role-based Discounts for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19

WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #24 5 too low 20

Custom Base Terms 70+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #3 17 too high 21

Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22

Glossary Tooltip – Highlight Terms & Show Tooltips 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23

eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24

Technical Site Auditor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.