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

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 notifications”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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

Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4228 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 signals wp.org

OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 3

Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too low 5

PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #15 ↑4 9 too low 7

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #18 11 too low 8

Gravitec.net – Web Push Notifications 1K+ · 4.4★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) heavy footprint wp.org #19 ↑1 10 too low 10

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #24 14 too low 11

PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #3 ↑1 8 too high 12

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #16 ↓6 4 too low 13

Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14

PushEngage – Web Push Notifications, WooCommerce Automation & Chat Widget 8K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #12 2 too high 15

Web Directory plugin Free – AI powered 300+ · 4.1★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #9 6 too high 16

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #20 ↓3 4 too low 17

Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) not PHP-current wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18

SendPulse Free Web Push 500+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑2 7 too high 19

Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #6 13 too high 20

iZooto – Web Push Notifications 900+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #8 12 too high 21

INDIGITALL – Instant Chat, Web Push Notifications 90+ · 4.8★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22

Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23

Subscribers – Free Web Push Notifications 1K+ · 2.9★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24

Web Push Notifications by Aimtell 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 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.