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

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 review”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

WP Ultimate Review shows at wp.org #2 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #1 ↑2 2

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4

Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5

WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too high 6

WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7

WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8

WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #2 6 too high 9

Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #9 ↑3 10

New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #11 ↑3 1 too low 11

Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #13 ↑5 2 too low 12

Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too high 13

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #24 11 too low 14

Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #15 ↑4 16

WP TripAdvisor Review Slider 8K+ · 4.8★ (135) wp.org #16 17

ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) not PHP-current wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18

User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #17 1 too high 19

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #22 3 too low 20

Paid Membership Plugin, Ecommerce, User Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content – ProfilePress 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #23 2 too low 22

WiserReview Product Reviews for WooCommerce 900+ · 5.0★ (34) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 1 too high 23

Business Reviews – build trust with real customer feedback 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24

LearnPress – Course Review 20K+ · 2.5★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.