wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “user generate”
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 generate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
User Login History shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 29 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 #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27820 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #1 2 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #2 3 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #3 4 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #6 7 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too low 11 
User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31)
wp.org #8 3 too high 12 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #16 4 too low 13 
Generate PDF using Contact Form 7 4K+ · 4.7★ (40)
wp.org #7 6 too high 14 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 
UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #17 ↑6 18 User Login History 10K+ · 4.6★ (29)
wp.org #9 9 too high 19 
RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459)
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 
Auto-Install Free SSL – Generate & Install Free SSL Certificates 8K+ · 4.9★ (405)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
WP Approve User 3K+ · 4.2★ (42)
wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 
Alt Text AI – Automatically generate image alt text for SEO and accessibility 20K+ · 4.7★ (35)
wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 
JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 
Generate Random Orders For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #22 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.