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

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 “updraftplus”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 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

Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP shows at wp.org #9 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms places #8 on merit, 4.4★ from 433 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #1 2 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #4 5 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 6 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 S SSH SFTP Updater Support 10K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8 Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 UpdraftCentral Dashboard 5K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Two Factor Authentication 20K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 U Upload Larger Plugins 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 Translate and boost SEO – Automatic AI translation – wpLingua 2K+ · 4.9★ (33) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Exclude Image Thumbnails From UpdraftPlus Backups 4K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too high 16 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓3 7 too high 17 WP Client Reports 6K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Optimal State – Advanced Optimization, Performance & Security Suite 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓4 5 too low 19 H Haznox Cleaner for UpdraftPlus 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Destino Access Audit 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 SitePulse – Performance Monitor, Safe Updates & Site Management 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Siteward Child 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Luzid Backup to Nextcloud 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 DarkAdmin – Dark Mode for Adminpanel 100+ · 3.0★ (1) 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.