Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “threaded”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

FluentComments – AJAX Comments, Anti-Spam & Comment Email Notifications shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 236 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #3 4 Front End PM 4K+ · 4.8★ (220) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Edit Flow 4K+ · 4.2★ (50) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Disqus Conditional Load 3K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #18 ↓3 7 too low 12 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #22 ↓4 10 too low 13 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Lazy Social Comments 900+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #14 15 Zeno Report Comments 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Project Manager – AI Powered Project Management, Task Management, Kanban Board & Time Tracker 5K+ · 3.8★ (187) wp.org #23 ↓4 7 too low 17 WPSSO Ratings and Reviews 100+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 SureDash – Community, Courses & Member Dashboard 1K+ · 4.3★ (23) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 FluentComments – AJAX Comments, Anti-Spam & Comment Email Notifications 700+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓2 8 too high 20 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 Reviso – Client Feedback & Approvals for Bricks, Elementor & Gutenberg 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓4 3 too low 22 ZenCommunity – Community, Forum, Social Network, Chat & Support Tickets 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Roadmap and Feedback Plugin for WordPress – SimpleBoards 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too high 24 Noted Visual Feedback 90+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓3 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.