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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “w3tc”

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 “w3tc”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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

WPC Multi Currency for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AdRotate Banner Manager places #6 on merit, 4.3★ from 655 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #1 2 C Clear Cache for Me 40K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 APCu Manager 10K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 NETSENSAI Shield 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 5 Advanced GeoIP Redirect 1K+ · 3.6★ (11) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #24 18 too low 7 Checkout Shield for WooCommerce – Stop Fake Orders, Spam Bots & Card Testing 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 8 Giuliomax Menu Builder 10+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Smalk AI Analytics 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 SEV WebP Migrator for W3TC 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 PromoTimer – Flash Sale Scheduler for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Airano MCP Bridge 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 CloudSync Master – Offload Media to S3, Cloudflare R2 & Google Cloud 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 K Kuwadema – Kuwait Delivery Areas for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 WWU Right of Withdrawal for Popular Ecommerce Platforms 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 LLM Override 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Spyglasses – AI Traffic Analytics 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Cyclone Static — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Provelopers Cache Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 SW Site Doctor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Talabi Order Form for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 MCP Content Manager Lite 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 WPC Multi Currency for WooCommerce 40+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.