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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “top 10”

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 “top 10”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

MM Back To Top — Scroll Up Button shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #2 3 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 6 Simple Scroll To Top WP 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #24 16 too low 9 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Disk Usage Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Top Image SEO 4K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 X-Scroll To Top – Responsive 200+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 MM Back To Top — Scroll Up Button 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Semrush SEO Writing Assistant 8K+ · 2.8★ (25) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Top-Down Scroll – Customizable Scroll to Top Button 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 WP-Stats 2K+ · 2.6★ (7) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 TextBuilder 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 9 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.