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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “thin content”

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 “thin content”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Super SEO Content Cloner shows at wp.org #3 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ 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

WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 350 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disable Media Pages 10K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #1 2 Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #6 ↑3 4 too low 3 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too low 4 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Bulk NoIndex & NoFollow Toolkit 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too high 8 WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) wp.org #24 16 too low 9 Icon Element – Icon Pack for Elementor Page Builder (6718 icons) 40K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #19 ↓13 9 too low 11 Super SEO Content Cloner 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 LLMs.txt Curator 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too low 13 French Typo 200+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too high 14 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 StoreAgent – WooCommerce AI Chatbot, AI Agent & WooCommerce MCP Server 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑6 3 too low 16 Waypoint SEO Content Generator 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑3 7 too high 17 Quevedo 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 IATO MCP 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too high 19 NetoTraffic Content Suite — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑2 7 too high 20 Auto NoIndex for Thin Content — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too high 21 AI Content Generator for WooCommerce 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too high 22 Eligibility Checklist for AdSense 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Auditizer – AI Website Audit & Optimization 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too high 24 NituLabs AI Content Fixer – Smart AI to Boost Your Content Quality — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.