wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “transactional”
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 “transactional”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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
MailerSend – Transactional emails for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #1 2 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #2 3 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 4 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↑2 5 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056)
wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #8 ↑2 9 
SMTP2GO for WordPress – Email Made Easy 40K+ · 5.0★ (67)
wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too low 10 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #21 ↑2 11 too low 11 
Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284)
wp.org #17 ↑5 6 too low 12 
WPO365 | MICROSOFT 365 GRAPH MAILER 10K+ · 5.0★ (40)
wp.org #16 4 too low 13 
YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45)
wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 
ShopMagic – email automation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (78)
wp.org #22 ↓3 8 too low 15 
Defer Transactional Emails for WooCommerce | Speed up the WooCommerce checkout 200+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓1 9 too high 16 
Brevo for WooCommerce 30K+ · 3.4★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 
Send Emails with Mandrill 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #19 2 too low 18 
Stop WP Emails Going to Spam 10K+ · 4.8★ (51) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓4 6 too low 19 
Email Customizer for WooCommerce | Drag and Drop Email Templates Builder 9K+ · 4.3★ (44) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 
Zoho ZeptoMail 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑2 8 too high 21 
SendWP 10K+ · 4.1★ (14) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too high 22 
Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ · 2.5★ (17) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 
GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓2 24 MailerSend – Transactional emails for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #7 17 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.