Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “try on”

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 “try on”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Backup Migration places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 1338 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too low 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #8 ↑2 5 too low 4 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #11 ↑3 6 too low 6 Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394) wp.org #9 ↑3 3 too low 7 SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #13 ↑3 5 too low 9 Leartes TRY Exchange Rates 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #3 ↑1 7 too high 11 SpecFit | Try & Shop – AI Virtual Try-On for WooCommerce 50+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #4 ↓2 7 too high 12 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 ↑5 2 too high 13 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #16 ↓6 3 too low 14 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #20 ↑3 6 too low 15 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763) wp.org #17 ↓5 2 too low 16 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #7 ↑1 9 too high 17 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 #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #14 ↑3 4 too high 19 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Multiple Domain Mapping on Single Site 6K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 TryAura: AI Virtual Try-On, Product Visualization & Product Videos for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓5

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.