Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “webmail”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 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

SMTP for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 PressedMail – Email Client, Inbox & Webmail 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 WebFacing™ – Email Accounts management for cPanel® 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #4 5 AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Quick Contact Form 1K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 Advanced Email Domain Restriction 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 gRDV Messages 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 Casa Mail 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 10 Lexiata SMTP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 SendGrail SMTP – Secure Email Delivery, Routing & Email Log for Gmail, Outlook, Office 365 & Custom SMTP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 12 Custom Link Shortener 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 Simple Web Marketing Attribution — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 FOEL TeamPortal Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 Javascript Disposable Email Blocker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 SMTP for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 AnswerBits AI Chat & Human Support — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 BallesDev LingoPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 QR platba bankovním převodem pro WooCommerce (SPAYD a Pay by square) — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 B5 Persona – Personality Assessments — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 BuddyPress Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 W WP SquirrelMail 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 WP Simple Notify 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 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.