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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “v2”

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 “v2”, we agree with wp.org 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

CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 399 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 5.0★ (89) wp.org #1 2 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #2 3 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #3 4 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #10 ↑11 3 too low 8 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too low 9 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10 Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #12 ↑7 2 too low 11 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #21 ↑1 10 too low 12 Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #19 ↓2 6 too low 14 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too low 15 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #9 ↓2 6 too high 16 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Simple Divi Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↑1 14 too high 19 CookieBoxs – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #6 13 too high 20 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 WP SAML Auth 7K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 reCAPTCHA for Asgaros Forum 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 Cookie Information – Cookie Banner with Consent Mode v2 2K+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 pensopay Payments v2 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 10 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.