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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “varnish cache”

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 “varnish cache”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Ergonet Cache shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ 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

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 1488 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 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #1 2 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #2 ↑4 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 CLP Varnish Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓2 2 too high 7 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #21 ↓1 14 too low 8 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Purge Varnish Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 Cache Warmer 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 SpinupWP 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 WPGraphQL Smart Cache 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 The Cache Purger 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 W WPBase Cache 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑11 9 too high 20 P Preload Fullpage Cache 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Ergonet Cache 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 ABCode Cache Warmer 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Clear Cache Everywhere 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 Pantheon Advanced Page Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.