wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ticket plugin”
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 “ticket plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 7 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
Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 289 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) heavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #8 4 too low 5 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 6 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #4 4 too high 9 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↑5 2 too high 10 
Ticket Tailor — Event Ticketing & Registration 4K+ · 4.3★ (46)
wp.org #6 4 too high 11 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289)
wp.org #19 ↑4 7 too low 13 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #23 ↓3 10 too low 14 
Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 1 too low 15 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #16 1 too low 16 
Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 
Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69)
wp.org #17 18 
WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too high 20 
Bus Ticket Booking with Seat Reservation 700+ · 4.9★ (41) heavy footprint
wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 
Customer Support Ticket System & Helpdesk 400+ · 4.3★ (27)
wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 
JS Help Desk – AI-Powered Support & Ticketing System 7K+ · 3.7★ (74)
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
Event Tickets Manager for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (32) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 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.