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← Rankings

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

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 “tenant”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 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

Xelion Webchat shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 90+ 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

Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 211 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #1 2 SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #2 3 WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WPO365 | MICROSOFT 365 GRAPH MAILER 10K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6 Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too low 7 Easy Property Listings 5K+ · 4.7★ (112) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Alex Reservations – Restaurant Reservations, Tables & White-Label Booking System 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 PowerBI Embed Reports 500+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Funnelforms Free – Multi Step Form, Contact Form & Lead Funnel Builder 1K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 TimeSaverBot – Multilingual AI Chatbot for WooCommerce & Live Chat 100+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Plugin Toggle 500+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13 GrabWP Tenancy 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 EqualWeb Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 User Sync for Azure AD / Azure B2C 70+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #18 ↑4 3 too low 16 All-in-One Microsoft 365 & Entra ID / Azure AD SSO Login 600+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 OrganicStack Publisher 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 Property Hive Rental Affordability Calculator 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 11 too high 19 NXT Cloud Chat – CRM, Inbox & OTP Login 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Xelion Webchat 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 14 too high 21 Mesh SMTP – Easy WordPress SMTP & Email Delivery 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22 SFLWA Identity & Tenant Provisioner for Amazon SES — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 DixonSMTP for Outlook & Microsoft 365 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 CYTRIO Consent Management 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.