wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “without”

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 “without”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Jetpack Without Promotions shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ 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

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #1 2

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #5 1 too low 5

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #11 ↑4 6 too low 6

Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too low 7

Document Embedder – let visitors read files without downloading 9K+ · 4.9★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too low 9

Change Admin Email 40K+ · 4.8★ (141) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10

Place Order Without Payment for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #4 6 too high 11

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12

PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) not PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓4 2 too high 13

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #21 8 too low 14

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) not PHP-current wp.org #19 5 too low 15

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #24 ↓2 9 too low 16

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓4 3 too high 17

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #23 5 too low 19

Jetpack Without Promotions 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #8 11 too high 20

Specific Content For Mobile – Customize the mobile version without redirections 4K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21

Magic Login – Magic Link & Passwordless Authentication for WordPress – Login Without Password 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #17 ↓3 4 too high 22

WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 ↑4 6 too high 23

Hide Tooltips on Hover – Clean Up Title Attributes Without Losing Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓4 1 too high 24

Export Without Shortcodes: convert to pure HTML the exported content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓3 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.