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← Rankings

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

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 “unresolved”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

AMWScan Antimalware Scanner Lite shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Open Close Store for WooCommerce – Business Hours & Order Scheduling 600+ · 3.4★ (41) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Automatic Internal Links for SEO by Pagup 900+ · 3.0★ (8) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 StoreAgent – WooCommerce AI Chatbot, AI Agent & WooCommerce MCP Server 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 REVE Chat – AI Chatbot, Live Chat, Helpdesk, Campaigns & More 100+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Ellie’s Checklist 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Enfants IMG Performer 40+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 GT Link Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Segurium – Free Malware Removal & Auto Cleanup for Hacked Websites, Antivirus Scanner, Vulnerability Alerts 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Advanced Tools for Gravity Forms 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Simplicity SEO Audit 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 OOPVulns: Vulnerability Scanner 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 SDP EU Withdrawal for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 Royal Links – Affiliate Link Cloaking, Shortener & Tracker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 MediaPilot AI – Media Library Folders, Cleanup & AI Metadata 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 DevDome Admin Cleaner: Remove Dashboard Widgets and Hide Menu Items 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Liveupx Security 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 DevDome Redirect Manager: Link Rotator, Geo Redirect & 302 Redirect 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Annotix – Visual Website Feedback & Annotation 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 WP Branches For Post 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Admin Optimizer – Performance, Security & Site Cleanup 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 SiteAgent for Aura 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 AMWScan Antimalware Scanner Lite 30+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑2 8 too high 24 Bouzin Pay — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.