wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “top post”
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 post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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
MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 31 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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.
WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102)
wp.org #1 2 
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #2 3 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
To Top 60K+ · 4.8★ (54) not PHP-current
wp.org #3 4 too high 8 
Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172)
wp.org #8 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #17 8 too low 10 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) heavy footprint
wp.org #12 13 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526)
wp.org #21 8 too low 14 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #11 3 too high 15 
WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 6 too high 17 
Post Grid 30K+ · 4.3★ (163)
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 
AnWP Post Grid and Post Carousel Slider for Elementor 20K+ · 4.9★ (84)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 
Post Slider and Post Carousel with Post Vertical Scrolling Widget – A Responsive Post Slider 10K+ · 4.7★ (31)
wp.org #16 4 too high 21 A ACF Post-2-Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (39)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 9 too high 23 
Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 
WP Top News — Build a Complete News Portal in WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #20 4 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.