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

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 app”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

Ads.txt & App-ads.txt Manager for WordPress shows at wp.org #10 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 48 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #2 3

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #3 4

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #4 5

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #7 8

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #8 2 too high 11

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #11 12

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #13 1 too low 13

WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #14 1 too low 14

Ads.txt & App-ads.txt Manager for WordPress 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #10 5 too high 16

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #22 5 too low 18

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #20 ↓4 2 too low 19

CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20

AppMySite – WordPress & WooCommerce Mobile App Builder (No-Code Android & iOS App Maker) 7K+ · 4.3★ (138) wp.org #23 3 too low 21

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑4 5 too high 22

App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

WappPress – Convert Site to App Fast – WordPress to Mobile App Builder 1K+ · 3.6★ (39) wp.org #24 1 too low 24

App Builder – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Flight 500+ · 3.9★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #19 5 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.