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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “window cleaner”

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 “window cleaner”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

CodingBunny Database Cleaner shows at wp.org #2 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 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 #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 399 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WPFront Scroll Top 200K+ · 4.9★ (142) wp.org #4 5 XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 WPS Bidouille 9K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Easy Appointments 10K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 A Adminimize 100K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 CodingBunny Database Cleaner 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 14 too high 17 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #17 18 Uji Countdown 4K+ · 3.2★ (54) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #19 20 ReactPress 2K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Power Coupons for WooCommerce 30K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Cleanup Orphan Images 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 External Links Manager – Open new window in a new tab + nofollow, noreferrer 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 CodingBunny Image Optimizer 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.