wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “top up”
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 up”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
Click to top shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce – Speed Up & Clean Up Admin places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 100 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
To Top 60K+ · 4.8★ (54)
wp.org #1 2 
WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142)
wp.org #2 3 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #5 6 
Wallet for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (188)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564)
wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 
MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #16 ↑5 6 too low 11 
Sign-up Sheets 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce – Speed Up & Clean Up Admin 10K+ · 4.8★ (100)
wp.org #20 8 too low 13 
Simple Banner – Easily add multiple Banners/Bars/Notifications/Announcements to the top or bottom of your website 50K+ · 4.8★ (45)
wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 
Beam me up Scotty – Back to Top Button 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #8 6 too high 15 
Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #24 9 too low 16 
FV Top Level Categories 20K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 
Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery 500+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 18 
X-Scroll To Top – Responsive 200+ · 4.1★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 
MakeITeasy Back To Top 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #10 9 too high 20 
MM Back To Top — Scroll Up Button 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #15 5 too high 21 
Scroll Top | HR Scroll Top 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 
Wallet Up – Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle & QR Code Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑2 10 too high 23 
Scroll to Top – Smooth Scroll Up, Back to Top & Reading Progress Bar 60+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Click to top 2K+ · 2.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.