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

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 feedback”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 2 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

Feedback Button – Jotform shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. 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

UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) 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

Marker.io – Visual Website Feedback 4K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #4 5

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #10 4 too low 7

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #14 7 too low 8

Feedbucket – Website Feedback Tool 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #2 6 too high 9

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #18 ↑4 8 too low 11

Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint wp.org #7 4 too high 12

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #15 ↑8 3 too low 13

Simple Commenter – Website Feedback tool 200+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #5 8 too high 14

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too low 15

kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #23 7 too low 17

Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) heavy footprint wp.org #20 ↓5 3 too low 18

FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) not PHP-current wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19

ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20

Feedback Button – Jotform 600+ · 4.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #9 11 too high 21

Private Website – Login Required 300+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑2 10 too high 22

Annotix – Visual Website Feedback & Annotation 70+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too high 23

Website Open/Closed Toggle 500+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24

Voice Feedback – Audio Feedback Form, Voice Recorder & Voice Testimonials 50+ · 5.0★ (1) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24

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.