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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “update plugins”

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 “update plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Content Update Scheduler shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #1 2 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #2 3 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #3 ↑5 3 too high 7 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #10 ↑4 2 too low 9 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #12 ↑6 2 too low 11 Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Companion Auto Update 40K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #20 ↑4 7 too low 14 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #15 ↓5 1 too low 15 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #22 ↓3 6 too low 17 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 Disable WordPress Update Notifications and auto-update Email Notifications 10K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 U Upload Larger Plugins 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 U Update Control 4K+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #18 ↓5 3 too high 22 Content Update Scheduler 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #14 ↑9 8 too high 23 Block Plugin Update 5K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.