wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ultimate blocks”

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 “ultimate blocks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 5 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

WP Ultimate Review shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 332 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #1 2

Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor 50K+ · 4.9★ (729) not PHP-current wp.org #2 3

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) heavy footprint wp.org #4 ↓1 5

Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 ↑1 6

Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) heavy footprint wp.org #6 ↑3 7

Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) heavy footprint wp.org #8 1 too low 8

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #11 ↑4 3 too low 9

Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too high 10

Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (439) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11

Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too low 12

Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248) wp.org #14 ↑5 2 too low 13

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #23 ↓3 10 too low 14

WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15

Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #15 ↓1 16

Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #13 3 too high 17

Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #16 1 too high 18

GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↓5 6 too high 19

Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) not PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓6 1 too high 20

Ultimate Product Catalog 4K+ · 4.5★ (233) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21

Recipe Card Blocks Lite 10K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22

WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23

Master Blocks – Ultimate Blocks for Marketers 100+ · 4.4★ (14) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24 1 too low 24

Ultimate Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Under Construction – Gutenberg Block Builder & Landing Page 9K+ · 4.5★ (6) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.