wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “video link”
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 “video link”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
Video Popup Block – YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok Lightbox by WPZOOM shows at wp.org #16 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605)
wp.org #1 2 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87)
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #5 6 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Video Conferencing with Zoom 10K+ · 4.8★ (217)
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136)
wp.org #10 11 
Easy Video Player 20K+ · 4.2★ (57)
wp.org #7 4 too high 12 
Video Gallery for WooCommerce – Add Product Video & Featured Video 4K+ · 5.0★ (44)
wp.org #11 1 too high 13 
Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (151)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 
Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169)
wp.org #15 1 too low 15 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #23 8 too low 16 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121)
wp.org #19 2 too low 18 
Video Popup – Video Lightbox for YouTube, Vimeo & MP4 10K+ · 4.5★ (43)
wp.org #13 5 too high 19 
Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
Video Grid 1K+ · 4.4★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Video Popup Block – YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok Lightbox by WPZOOM 10K+ · 4.7★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #16 6 too high 23 
Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 
Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #22 2 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.