Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “versioning”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

WPGraphQL for ACF shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ 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

License Manager for WooCommerce places #6 on merit, 4.6★ from 147 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #1 2 WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule 10K+ · 4.0★ (128) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 WPGraphQL Smart Cache 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 License Manager for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (147) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Simple Page Access Restriction 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Offload Media – Cloud Storage 1K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Media Cloud Sync 1K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Logic Hop – Dynamic Content Personalization for WordPress 70+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #21 ↑1 11 too low 11 Linkable 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Markdown Mirror – llms.txt and .md always up to date 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Lynbro Cookie Consent 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too low 14 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 AI Discovery Files – llms.txt & AI Visibility 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 WP Designer – Professional WordPress Design & Customization Tool 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 WPGraphQL for ACF 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 10 too high 18 ConsentOwl — Cookie Consent & Tracker Blocker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 WP Plugin Filter 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 kanenas — Minor/Patch Auto-Updates 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 DeltaBackups – backup & migration — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 WPGreeks Securities & SEO Tools 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 UpdateGuard – Safe Update Manager — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Ravanix – Smart Psychological Assessment 10+ · 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.