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

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 mark”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

SEO’n’AI – AI Image check&mark shows at wp.org #2 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ 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

Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 474 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too low 6 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #7 ↑7 1 too low 7 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 WP Tripadvisor Review Widgets 20K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #10 11 Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 S Subscribe to Comments 10K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #3 ↑1 9 too high 13 Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Fluid Checkout for WooCommerce – Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (159) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 SEO’n’AI – AI Image check&mark 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 ↑1 13 too high 16 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #24 ↓3 8 too low 17 Captivate Sync 1K+ · 3.2★ (10) wp.org #4 ↑1 13 too high 18 CheckoutWC Lite – Conversion optimized WooCommerce checkout 2K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Payment Gateway for PayPal on WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (73) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Widgets for Amazon Reviews 2K+ · 4.0★ (45) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Easy Appointments 10K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Widgets for Yelp Reviews 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Revi.io – Customer and Product Reviews 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too high 24 Widgets for Thumbtack Reviews 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.