Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “where”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 4 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

WZ Followed Posts – Display what visitors are reading shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 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 wp.org
1 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 No Gutenberg? – Choose Where to Use the Block Editor or the Classic Editor 9K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #13 ↓3 2 too low 12 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #15 ↓2 16 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #17 ↓3 18 Agile Store Locator 10K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Microsoft Clarity 200K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 MediaMan – Where is this Image Used? 500+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 WZ Followed Posts – Display what visitors are reading 300+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓3 12 too high 24 WhereUsed 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓4 1 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.