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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “web app”

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 “web app”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

App for Cloudflare® shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 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 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #1 2 PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230) wp.org #2 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #3 4 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 PWA — easy way to Progressive Web App 1K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #9 ↓5 3 too low 7 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #7 ↑13 1 too high 9 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #13 ↑8 4 too low 10 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Hyper PWA – Bringing Modern Progressive Web App Experiences 400+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #6 ↑2 6 too high 13 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #16 ↓3 17 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Ads.txt & App-ads.txt Manager for WordPress 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too high 21 App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 iZooto – Web Push Notifications 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Progressify – All-in-One Progressive Web App (PWA) 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 7 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.