wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “toggle category”
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 “toggle category”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Amitry Product & Category Slider for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1268 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.
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #3 2 too low 2 
WP Media Category Management 6K+ · 4.7★ (35)
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #7 ↑3 2 too low 6 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #6 ↑1 7 
Product Category Showcase for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #2 5 too high 8 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #14 6 too low 9 
Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453)
wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #17 7 too low 11 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27)
wp.org #8 4 too high 13 
Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81)
wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 
Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882)
wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 
Simple Discount Rules for Woocommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (73)
wp.org #13 ↓8 2 too high 16 
HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489)
wp.org #24 ↓5 8 too low 17 
PublishPress Tag Groups: Stylish Displays For Your Tags and Categories 3K+ · 4.8★ (57)
wp.org #16 1 too high 18 
Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑3 19 
Automatic Product Categories for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Simple SEO Noindex Toggle 60+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑4 11 too high 21 C Custom Category Post Order 500+ · 3.2★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 
Accordion FAQ with Category 100+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 
Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Amitry Product & Category Slider for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.