wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “update wordpress 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 wordpress plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
Disable WordPress Update Notifications and auto-update Email Notifications shows at wp.org #18 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 19 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #2 3 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #5 6 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #6 7 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #7 8 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #14 4 too low 11 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 
Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69)
wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too high 13 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #17 3 too low 15 
Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726)
wp.org #15 ↓2 16 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #12 ↑11 4 too high 17 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #16 1 too high 18 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #20 ↓5 2 too low 19 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #21 ↓1 22 
Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59)
wp.org #22 ↓1 23 
WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327)
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Disable WordPress Update Notifications and auto-update Email Notifications 10K+ · 4.2★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #18 6 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.