wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress 5.2.1”

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 “wordpress 5.2.1”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

C3 Cloudfront Cache Controller shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Download Monitor places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #1 2

Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #2 3

Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #3 4

Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #4 5

Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Admin Custom Login 10K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #5 2 too high 8

WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) wp.org #10 1 too low 10

Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

Flexible PDF Invoices for WooCommerce & WordPress 6K+ · 4.4★ (37) wp.org #7 4 too high 12

Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #13 1 too low 13

File Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (202) wp.org #16 3 too low 14

FG SPIP to WordPress 100+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #11 3 too high 15

Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #17 2 too low 16

WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #24 8 too low 17

Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #18 1 too low 18

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #21 3 too low 19

UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #14 5 too high 20

Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #23 3 too low 21

Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #19 2 too high 22

C3 Cloudfront Cache Controller 3K+ · 4.3★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #12 10 too high 23

Testimonial – Responsive Testimonials Showcase 50+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too high 24

TalentLMS WordPress plugin 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews 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.