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

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 “weights”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Gold Price Based on Weight shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Max Mega Menu places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 882 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 Weight Based Shipping for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.6★ (83) wp.org #1 2 Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706) wp.org #2 3 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WC – APG Weight Shipping 6K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Cart Weight for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #13 ↓3 2 too low 12 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 morkva UA Shipping – Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, Rozetka, Nova Global 1K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts 200K+ · 5.0★ (1221) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 Advanced Free Shipping for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.8★ (122) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 WowShipping – Table Rate & Weight Based Shipping 700+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (74) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 Shipping Live Rates for USPS for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 Gold Price Based on Weight 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Easy Hide Login 20K+ · 4.4★ (43) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Custom Shipping Methods for WooCommerce – Create Weight based Shipping, Conditional Shipping, Table Rate Shipping and much more 3K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too high 23 Hide Shipping Method For WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Advanced Popups 60K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.