Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “testing”, 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 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

EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 10K+ 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

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #3 4 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too low 6 Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #17 ↑3 10 too low 8 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #19 ↑2 11 too low 9 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #16 ↓3 6 too low 11 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #20 ↑3 9 too low 12 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 #22 ↓11 10 too low 13 Insert Headers And Footers 200K+ · 5.0★ (135) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 CheckView – Form & Checkout Testing 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Personizely — A/B Testing, Personalization, Popups & CRO 300+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #21 ↓2 5 too low 17 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 Checkout Shield for WooCommerce – Stop Fake Orders, Spam Bots & Card Testing 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑4 8 too high 19 My WP A/B Testing 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑5 8 too high 21 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 Sigmize: A/B Testing, Session Recordings, Heatmaps & Revenue Tracking for WooCommerce, SureCart & EDD 5K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 19 too high 24 Responsive Testing: simulate different devices 100+ · 5.0★ (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.