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

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 “things”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Pinterest for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 68 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #13 6 too low 8

FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #14 ↑4 6 too low 9

ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679) wp.org #10 1 too low 10

LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) not PHP-current wp.org #11 12

Nginx Helper 200K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #7 ↑2 5 too high 13

Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15

WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16

Falling Things 200+ · 4.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #1 16 too high 18

OoohBoi Steroids for Elementor 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20

Search Regex 100K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22

Remove Footer Credit 60K+ · 4.7★ (88) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23

Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement wp.org #5 ↑1 18 too high 24

WP-Cron Status Checker 5K+ · 3.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #23 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.