Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “trailing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.

Ranked above its merit

News Kit Addons For Elementor shows at wp.org #4 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 55 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 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #1 2 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #2 3 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too low 4 Connect Polylang for Elementor 100K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 Advanced Query Loop 6K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More 20K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress 600+ · 4.5★ (55) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Stock market charts from finviz 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 News Kit Addons For Elementor 3K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Subtle Icons – SVG Icon Block Suite, Icon Picker & ACF Field 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Smooth Custom Cursor 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Disable CSS JS Cache 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Cursor Style & Animation 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 JumpsuitAI – llms.txt + Markdown Endpoints 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 String Replacer 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Cursor Trail 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Autobute – Auto Image Alt Text, Title & Caption for Image SEO 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 MWR Hit Counter 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 The Word Widget 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 CursorFlex – Stylish Cursor Effects for WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 B Bulk Trash by URL 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 OTYS Plugin 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.