wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “website animation”

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 “website animation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smart Slider 3 places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1125 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 signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 3

Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #3 4

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5

Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 500K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #5 6

HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑1 7

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #11 4 too low 8

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↑4 3 too low 10

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too low 11

Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too high 12

Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #22 10 too low 13

Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) heavy footprint wp.org #18 5 too low 14

LottieFiles – JSON Based Animation Lottie & Bodymovin for Elementor 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↑1 7 too high 15

Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16

Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) heavy footprint wp.org #24 8 too low 17

aBlocks – Gutenberg Blocks, User Dashboard Builder, Popup Builder, Form Builder & Animation Builder 2K+ · 5.0★ (26) heavy footprint wp.org #19 2 too low 18

Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #23 4 too low 20

Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #17 3 too high 21

Animation Builder – An interface for adding scroll-triggered animations 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 17 too high 22

AI website builder for the block editor and Elementor – Advanced Addons 600+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #10 12 too high 23

Cursor Style & Animation 70+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Confetti Fall Animation 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.