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

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 “utilities”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

WP Supra – Maintenance & Support Utilities shows at wp.org #2 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 CiviCRM Admin Utilities 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Big File Uploads – Increase Maximum File Upload Size 100K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #8 ↑5 2 too low 7 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #16 ↓2 9 too low 8 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #13 ↑8 5 too low 9 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Core Framework 10K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too high 13 Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Nepali Date Utilities 1K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #4 ↓1 10 too high 15 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #15 ↑3 16 Powerkit – Supercharge your WordPress Site 10K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too high 17 Arconix Shortcodes 3K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too low 18 F FeedWordPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (61) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 PW WooCommerce Exclude Free Shipping 1K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 WP Supra – Maintenance & Support Utilities 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 18 too high 21 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 SMNTCS Utilities 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 WP-Yomigana 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 MyBrain Utilities 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.