wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “want”
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 “want”, we and wp.org disagree 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
Pay What You Want shows at wp.org #1 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 300+ 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.
WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111)
wp.org #3 2 too low 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #4 ↑3 2 too low 3 
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 
Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #2 3 too high 6 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #12 ↑11 2 too low 11 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #14 ↑3 3 too low 12 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 
Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872)
wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538)
wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 
WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ · 4.8★ (169)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 
Insert Headers And Footers 200K+ · 5.0★ (135)
wp.org #21 ↓7 2 too low 20 Pay What You Want 300+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #1 19 too high 21 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #23 ↓10 2 too low 22 
Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104)
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Ocean Stick Anything 20K+ · 4.8★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 
Custom Price for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 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.