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← Rankings

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

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 “winners”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

Raffle for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ 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

BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 85 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 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #1 2 Website Pop-up Builder by BDOW! (formerly Sumo): Pop-ups + forms for email opt-ins and lead generation 10K+ · 4.2★ (519) wp.org #2 3 Raffle Play Woocommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #3 4 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 WinRocket Raffle and Giveaway Campaigns for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too high 6 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Giveaways and Contests by RafflePress – Get More Website Traffic, Email Subscribers, and Social Followers 20K+ · 3.9★ (43) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #11 ↑3 2 too low 10 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 Gratisfaction- Loyalty, Rewards , Referral, Birthday and Giveaway Program 600+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Contests by Rewards Fuel 40+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 My Agile Privacy® – CMP, Cookie Consent & Privacy Tools 7K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe 1K+ · 4.4★ (89) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Scratch & Win – Giveaways and Contests. Boost subscribers, traffic, repeat visits, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Social Boost: Giveaways, Instant win and Contests. Grow followers, shares, subscribers, traffic, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 SweepWidget – Giveaway, Contest, Sweepstakes, Competition & Photo Contest Plugin 100+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Run Contests, Raffles, and Giveaways with ContestsWP 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Raffle Ticket Generator – Woocommerce 100+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Qi Blocks 60K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 TableKit – WordPress Table Builder for Data Tables, WooCommerce Product Tables & Post Tables 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Raffle for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 WebEquipe Spin & Win Wheel 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 4 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.