Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “terminal”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 8 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

Terminal Africa shows at wp.org #2 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 50+ 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

Oliver POS – WooCommerce POS for iPhone, iPad & Android places #9 on merit, 4.2★ from 90 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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 #3 2 too low 2 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #6 ↑3 3 too low 4 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #4 5 WPTerm 4K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #5 6 MultiParcels Shipping For WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (62) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 WCPOS – Point of Sale (POS) plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.7★ (84) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Oliver POS – WooCommerce POS for iPhone, iPad & Android 700+ · 4.2★ (90) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 NinjaScanner – Virus & Malware scan 40K+ · 4.0★ (36) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 GNU Terry Pratchett 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13 StoreEngine — Complete eCommerce Solution with Memberships, Licensing, Affiliates & More 700+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 E Estonian Shipping Methods for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Terminal Africa 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 13 too high 16 MakeCommerce for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.6★ (8) wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17 PayPal POS for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.5★ (21) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 TNC Toolbox: Web Performance 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 ACS Points Plugin 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Protect Login 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Deliver via Shipos for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Pay. Payment Methods for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 BORICA Payments by BORICA AD 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24 PAYCOMET for WooCommerce 2K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 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.