Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “test site”

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 “test site”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

WP Global Site Tag shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

W3 Total Cache places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 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 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 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 #8 3 too low 6 Yoast Test Helper 50K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 Split Test For Elementor 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 too high 12 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #20 ↓4 7 too low 14 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too low 16 Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 WC Order Test 6K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 S Site Health Tools 500+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.