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

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 “updated”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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.

R

Ranked above its merit

Recently Updated Pages and Posts shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #11 ↑3 4 too low 8 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too high 9 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 ↑10 1 too high 10 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546) wp.org #16 ↑3 5 too low 12 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #17 ↓5 5 too low 13 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #24 ↓2 11 too low 14 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #19 ↑5 3 too low 17 IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 D Disable Plugin Autoupdate Emails 6K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↑4 6 too high 20 Plugins Last Updated Column 600+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 Post Updated Date 500+ · 3.7★ (11) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 R Recently Updated Pages and Posts 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 18 too high 23 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #20 ↓7 3 too high 24 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓2 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.