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

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 “token”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 5 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

Cryptocurrency (Token), Launchpad (Presale), ICO & IDO, Airdrop by TokenICO shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 3026 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #1 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #2 3 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #13 ↑3 5 too low 9 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #18 ↑4 9 too low 10 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 SiteGround Migrator 80K+ · 4.3★ (403) wp.org #15 ↓4 4 too low 12 Age Verification & Identity Verification by Token of Trust 30+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #19 ↓6 4 too low 16 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #16 17 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #17 ↑2 3 too high 21 MyCryptoCheckout – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 100+ altcoins for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #20 ↓6 1 too high 22 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #22 ↓5 23 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 24 Cryptocurrency (Token), Launchpad (Presale), ICO & IDO, Airdrop by TokenICO 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 18 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.