Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “vary”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Crypto Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 502 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #2 3 WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #3 4 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #4 5 SEO WRITING – AI Writer for SEO & AI Search 20K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Markup by Attribute for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #22 13 too low 10 VS Event List 8K+ · 4.9★ (82) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Pressable Automated Migration 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Instant Approval Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 ChargeWP Timeline Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 D Default Sort Ascend 400+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 WPC Product Size Chart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 LLM Markdown – Markdown Endpoints for AI Agents 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 RiskPay Gateway: USDC Payouts for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Crypto Payment Gateway with Instant Payouts 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Block for Apple Maps 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Controlled Draft Publisher 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 22 Nexi XPay 7K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Plugin Memory Usage 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Svea Checkout for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.