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

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 “ups”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

eCommerce Shipping Dashboard by UPS for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Shipping Live Rates and Access Points for UPS for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #3 4 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #7 ↑3 3 too low 5 Pop-up 10K+ · 4.7★ (86) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #11 ↑5 3 too low 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #19 ↑5 10 too low 10 Coupon X – Discount Popups, Promo Codes Pop Ups for WooCommerce & Announcement Popups 1K+ · 4.9★ (52) wp.org #10 ↓4 11 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #21 ↓1 10 too low 12 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #24 ↓12 12 too low 13 Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #12 ↑5 3 too high 16 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #22 ↓4 5 too low 18 Website Pop-up Builder by BDOW! (formerly Sumo): Pop-ups + forms for email opt-ins and lead generation 10K+ · 4.2★ (519) wp.org #18 19 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Automated UPS Shipping for WooCommerce – HPOS supported 100+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #8 ↑1 12 too high 21 eCommerce Shipping Dashboard by UPS for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.5★ (6) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 Sign-up Sheets 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 UPS Shipping 40+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 OPSI Israel Domestic Shipments 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.