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← Rankings

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

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 “themes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Export Themes shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #4 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 Theme Check 20K+ · 4.8★ (195) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too high 8 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #5 ↑5 3 too high 9 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Theme My Login 50K+ · 3.7★ (460) wp.org #12 ↓6 1 too low 12 Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 200K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Theme Editor 50K+ · 4.6★ (128) wp.org #18 ↓4 4 too low 15 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #15 ↑3 1 too high 17 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #20 ↓5 3 too low 18 Child Theme Wizard 10K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 Generate Child Theme 9K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 Export Themes 2K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #9 ↓1 11 too high 21 WP Child Theme Generator 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Disable Updates for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes 9K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Ansar Import – One Click Starter Sites – for WordPress Themes 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Mystery Themes Demo Importer 6K+ · 2.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.