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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “text only”

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 “text only”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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

eRecht24 Legal Texts shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 50K+ 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

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 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 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #1 2 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #2 3 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #19 15 too low 5 Text Unfold For Elementor 3K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 Animated Text Block – Add Typing and Looping Text Effects 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Auto Alt Text 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Show only lowest prices in variable products for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #9 10 AI Alt Text Generator 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 ResponsiveVoice Text To Speech 7K+ · 3.9★ (34) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Alt Text Tools 800+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Alt Text AI – Automatically generate image alt text for SEO and accessibility 20K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 JVM Rich Text Icons 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Bulk Auto Image Alt Text (Alt tag, Alt attribute) optimizer (image SEO) 10K+ · 4.2★ (111) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Marquee Running Text 5K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Text to Speech – TTSWP 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 ELEX WooCommerce Product Price Custom Text (Before & After Text) and Discount 2K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Text Replace – Find and Replace WordPress Strings 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Slider Text Scroll 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 E Eyes Only 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.