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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “theme builder”

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 “theme builder”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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

Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates shows at wp.org #12 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 184 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1028 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #7 8 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #11 ↑4 1 too low 11 FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout 30K+ · 5.0★ (1028) wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too low 12 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 200K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #14 ↓4 2 too high 17 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #12 ↑2 5 too high 18 Cost Calculator Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (393) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Magical Addons For Elementor ( Theme Builder, Header Footer Builder, Free Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates Library ) 4K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑4 3 too high 24 HT Builder – WordPress Theme Builder for Elementor 1K+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 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.