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

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 “verified”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

VERIFIED Crypto Checkout – Card to USDC WooCommerce Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail places #12 on merit, 4.3★ from 76 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #1 2

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 3

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #3 4

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6

UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #11 4 too low 8

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #10 2 too low 9

Verified Member for BuddyPress 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #4 5 too high 10

Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12

Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail 70K+ · 4.3★ (76) wp.org #17 5 too low 13

Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14

TrustedSite 10K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #13 1 too high 15

View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #21 6 too low 16

Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) throws errorsnot PHP-current low rating, top placement wp.org #5 11 too high 17

Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18

OpenPorte Spam Protection 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #22 4 too low 19

Address Validation and Autocomplete for WooCommerce | Addressfinder 900+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #20 1 too low 20

Mailster AmazonSES Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21

GetPaid Stripe Payments 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22

Age Verification for your checkout page. Verify your customer’s identity 600+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

VERIFIED Crypto Checkout – Card to USDC WooCommerce Payment Gateway 100+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #9 14 too high 24

Verified-Pay 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2

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.