Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 identification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Leadfeeder shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 399 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Albacross – B2B Website Visitor Identification 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #1 2 TWIPLA – Website Intelligence 800+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #2 3 Royal WordPress Backup, Restore & Migration Plugin – Backup WordPress Sites Safely 30K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Inline Related Posts 100K+ · 4.3★ (77) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Simple Commenter – Website Feedback tool 200+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 FastDup – Fastest WordPress Migration & Duplicator 5K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #19 12 too low 8 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 NIF (Num. de Contribuinte Português) for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 VdoCipher: Secure Video Player and Hosting 2K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Motors – Car Dealership & Classified Listings Plugin 9K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 RAEK First-Party Data Collection 200+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Bread & Butter – Identify Website Visitors, Score Leads & Gate Content 60+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Multibanco, MB WAY, Credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Payshop, and PIX (ifthenpay) for WooCommerce 8K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Fraud Prevention For WooCommerce and EDD 4K+ · 3.7★ (23) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Evergreen Countdown Timer 2K+ · 3.6★ (14) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 DevDome Analytics: Bot Traffic vs Human Traffic Website Statistics 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Leadfeeder 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 18 too high 23 Indexing website for Google 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Sopro 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.