Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “trainer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

3D Viewer Block – Bring Your Products to Life with Interactive 3D shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Appointment Booking Plugin – LatePoint | Calendar & Scheduling for WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 107 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346) wp.org #1 2 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Easy Appointments 10K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 Responsive Team Members Showcase, Team Grid, Team Slider, and Staff List – Smart Team (formerly WP Team) 5K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Jetpack CRM – Clients, Leads, Invoices, Billing, Email Marketing, & Automation 30K+ · 4.3★ (152) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Gym Builder – Class Timetable & Booking for Gyms, Fitness & Yoga Studios 100+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 40K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 Appointment Booking Plugin – LatePoint | Calendar & Scheduling for WordPress 100K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 MasterStudy LMS WordPress Plugin – for Online Courses and Education 10K+ · 4.5★ (487) wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 Online Booking & Scheduling Calendar by vcita 1K+ · 3.9★ (117) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Booktics – Appointment Booking Calendar for Service Businesses 700+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 Creavi Appointment Booking Calendar 90+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 3D Viewer Block – Bring Your Products to Life with Interactive 3D 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Chessgame Shizzle 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Click To Copy – Copy Text or Code to Clipboard Instantly 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Business Card Block – present your team and contact info in style 1K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Quizably – Quiz Maker, Personality Quiz & Survey Builder 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Blocks Starter Templates – Block Templates & Patterns 1K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.