Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “toolset”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Bosa Starter Sites shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 522 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 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too low 4 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 WCFM Marketplace – Multivendor Marketplace for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (449) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Dynamic Visibility for Elementor 50K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 WP All Export – Drag & Drop Export to Any Custom CSV, XML & Excel 100K+ · 4.5★ (415) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 Unlimited Elements for Elementor 300K+ · 4.8★ (525) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #14 ↑8 1 too low 14 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 ThemeMiles Toolset 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 16 too high 18 Kortez Toolset 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 15 too high 19 Advanced OSM for Toolset Maps 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Bosa Starter Sites 30K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 Roles & Capabilities 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Export All Posts, Products, Orders & Users | WP Ultimate Exporter | WordPress CSV Export 6K+ · 3.2★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 Hippoo Mobile App for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) 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.