wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wildcard”
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 “wildcard”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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
Gravity Forms Zero Spam shows at wp.org #11 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #1 2 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #4 2 too low 3 
Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162)
wp.org #3 2 too high 6 
WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139) not PHP-current
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #10 11 
Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78)
wp.org #12 1 too low 12 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #15 ↑3 3 too low 13 
Say What? 40K+ · 4.3★ (92)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 
404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321)
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43)
wp.org #13 2 too high 16 
PW WooCommerce Bulk Edit 20K+ · 4.9★ (238) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #11 6 too high 18 
SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73)
wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 
IndexNow Plugin 100K+ · 3.2★ (47)
wp.org #17 2 too high 20 
Auto Submenu 2K+ · 4.0★ (25)
wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 
WP-Ban 8K+ · 3.7★ (27)
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 
Gravity Forms Email Blacklist 10K+ · 4.3★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #21 1 too high 23 
Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 
LLMs.txt and LLMs-Full.txt Generator 4K+ · 5.0★ (7) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 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.