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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user availability”

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

Booking Package shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #2 3 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar – Amelia 90K+ · 4.6★ (793) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #7 8 Booking Calendar 40K+ · 4.8★ (657) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Availability Datepicker – Booking Calendar for Contact Form 7 – Input WP 10K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 WP Simple Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.8★ (227) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #18 19 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #20 21 WP Booking System – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (344) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Booking Package 10K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 BA Book Everything 10K+ · 4.2★ (20) wp.org #21 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.