wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user emails”
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 emails”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Restrict Usernames Emails Characters shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 25 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #1 2 
User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #5 ↓2 6 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Stop User Enumeration 60K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 
Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #6 6 too high 13 
User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ · 5.0★ (1281)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #14 ↓1 15 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too low 17 
Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41)
wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too low 20 
New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131)
wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #16 5 too high 22 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #22 ↓1 23 R Restrict Usernames Emails Characters 1K+ · 4.5★ (25)
wp.org #15 8 too high 24 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #24 ↓1 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.