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

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 “trust”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Business Reviews – build trust with real customer feedback shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ 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

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #8 ↓2 4 too low 5 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #10 ↑3 5 too low 6 TrustedSite 10K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 ↓4 10 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #4 ↑11 7 too high 12 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar 30K+ · 4.8★ (228) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 Testimonial – Testimonial Slider and Showcase Plugin 20K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #18 ↑4 2 too low 17 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 Age Verification & Identity Verification by Token of Trust 30+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #16 ↓9 2 too high 19 Business Reviews – build trust with real customer feedback 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓3 12 too high 20 Trusted Shops Easy Integration for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 Reviewkit – Trustpilot Reviews Widget & Embed 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 Trust Badges – Payment Icons & Secure Checkout Seals for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too high 23 Testimonial – Build Trust with Rotating Customer Stories 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too high 24 Trust Payments Gateway for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓5 10 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.