wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “trial”
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 “trial”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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
Extended Trial Coupon for WC Subscription shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 50+ 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
3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 820 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.
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #4 ↓2 3 too low 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #5 ↓2 3 too low 3 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too high 4 
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 #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 
Free Trial Coupon for WooCommerce Subscriptions 200+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #1 ↑3 5 too high 7 
Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 
Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 
SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (289)
wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 
WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81)
wp.org #11 12 3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (820)
wp.org #19 ↓2 7 too low 13 
Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620)
wp.org #23 ↑2 10 too low 14 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 
Product Feed for Google Shopping, Microsoft Advertising and 40+ Channels for WooCommerce Merchant 2K+ · 4.8★ (87)
wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17 
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too high 18 
First payment date for WooCommerce Subscriptions 400+ · 4.7★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↑4 10 too high 19 Extended Trial Coupon for WC Subscription 50+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↓2 16 too high 20 
Milo Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce and Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 
tarteaucitron.io – Cookie Banner & GDPR Consent Management 10K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 
Constant Contact Forms 20K+ · 2.6★ (107)
wp.org #16 ↓8 6 too high 23 
Flexible Subscriptions 1K+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑6 10 too high 24 
SimplyBook.me – Booking and reservations calendar 30K+ · 1.0★ (1) thin reviews
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.