wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tests”
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 “tests”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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
Split Test For Elementor shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 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.
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
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 #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 
VRTs – Visual Regression Tests 800+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #1 2 too high 4 
Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too high 5 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #8 ↑8 1 too low 8 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 
WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #19 ↓2 9 too low 11 
SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356)
wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 
Yoast Test Helper 50K+ · 4.9★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too high 14 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #14 15 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too low 17 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #21 4 too low 18 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #17 ↓4 1 too high 19 
Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓4 4 too high 21 Split Test For Elementor 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓2 11 too high 22 
Gutenberg 400K+ · 2.1★ (3888)
wp.org #15 ↑4 7 too high 23 
MOBILOOK — Mobile View & Mobile‑Friendly Test 1K+ · 4.9★ (27) not PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 T Test jQuery Updates 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #20 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.