Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “vector”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

SVGator shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 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

Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 523 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MapSVG – Vector maps, Image maps, Google Maps 1K+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #1 2 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Safe SVG 1M+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #8 ↑2 9 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #12 ↓5 3 too low 10 Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share 100K+ · 4.8★ (523) wp.org #19 ↓1 9 too low 11 WP SVG Images 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #10 ↑3 4 too high 15 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #20 ↓3 5 too low 16 WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #24 ↓9 8 too low 17 Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Qyrr – simply and modern QR-Code creation 2K+ · 3.8★ (21) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 FileBird Document Library 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑5 4 too high 20 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too high 21 SVGator 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 Simple Disable XML-RPC 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 MapifyLite (by MapifyPro) 300+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 aThemes Starter Sites 30K+ · 2.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.