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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “version check”

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 “version check”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WP ADA Compliance Check Basic shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Events Calendar places #12 on merit, 4.2★ from 2461 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 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 2 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #2 3 Theme Check 20K+ · 4.8★ (195) wp.org #3 4 WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ · 4.8★ (169) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 WP24 Domain Check 4K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 Meta Generator and Version Info Remover 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Child Theme Check 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Pinpoint Booking System – Legacy version 2K+ · 3.6★ (185) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 WP ADA Compliance Check Basic 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↑2 9 too high 21 Check Pincode For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Version Locker: Disable Updates, Rollback and Downgrade 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Instant Indexing & Check for Google and Bing SEO 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.