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

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 “wealth”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

DPO Pay for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 900+ 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

YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 323 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #1 2 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Get Use APIs – JSON Content Importer 5K+ · 4.9★ (78) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools 30K+ · 4.6★ (535) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (323) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Wheel of Life: Coaching and Assessment Tool for Life Coach 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Shopkeeper Extender 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 BrainCert Virtual Classroom 10+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 TrustMate.io – WooCommerce integration 3K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Payfast Gateway for WooCommerce 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 Summary box for Wikipedia links 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 FinCalc Toolkit – Financial Calculators 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Funraise Giving Form 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 C Circular Wealth Partners Postback — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Adventurebook 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Resource Library for Logged In Users 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 Structured Data for Schema.org — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Sensei LMS Post to Course Creator 900+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 WPFixFast Products per Page — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Pricing Table builder – Price List 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 DPO Pay for WooCommerce 900+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.