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← Rankings

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

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 check”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 5 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

WP Spell Check shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.9★ average from 39 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3156) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 WP24 Domain Check 4K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Prisna GWT – Google Website Translator 8K+ · 4.5★ (54) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 500K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 WP ADA Compliance Check Basic 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 CopyProof Website 300+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Website Open/Closed Toggle 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.