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

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 hosting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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

Janolaw AGB Hosting shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ 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.

Buried gem

NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization places #12 on merit, 4.3★ from 311 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #7 ↑4 2 too low 6 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too low 7 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 U Upload Larger Plugins 6K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #22 ↓2 10 too low 13 CopySafe Web Protection – Copy Protect Images 800+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too high 16 LWS Hide Login 20K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 LWS Cleaner 20K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #21 ↓2 4 too low 18 Migrate To Liquid Web & Nexcess 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Two Factor (2FA) Authentication via Email 9K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 B Bulk Plugin Installation 300+ · 3.6★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Janolaw AGB Hosting 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 Ultra Web Hosting Performance Toolkit 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.