wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “tutorials”
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 “tutorials”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 7 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
Nginx Helper shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 31 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #1 2 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↑5 1 too high 6 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #6 ↑9 1 too high 8 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too low 10 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↓3 2 too high 11 
Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071)
wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 
Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓4 2 too high 13 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 
EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↑6 15 
WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966)
wp.org #24 ↓2 9 too low 16 
LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874)
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #19 ↓5 2 too low 18 
Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 6 too high 19 
Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Nginx Helper 200K+ · 4.4★ (31)
wp.org #11 9 too high 21 
WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88)
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #21 ↓8 1 too high 23 
Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓9 7 too high 24 
Intro Tour Tutorial DeepPresentation 200+ · 4.8★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓7 1 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.