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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “total users”

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 “total users”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

A

Ranked above its merit

Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #1 2 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #2 3 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #3 4 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too low 7 RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid 40K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 JetHost Total Care – Security & Enhancements 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 WP Fast Total Search – The Power of Indexed Search 1K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 User IP and Location 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 A Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 16 too high 21 Mass Email To Users 800+ · 3.1★ (8) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 All Users Filter 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Users Insights Lite – User Management, Analytics & WooCommerce Reports 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑3 10 too high 24 Total CrUX 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.