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

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 blocks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 6 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

VK Blocks shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #6 ↑4 1 too low 6

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 ↓2 2 too high 7

Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) heavy footprint wp.org #7 ↑4 8

Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor 50K+ · 4.9★ (729) not PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9

Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) heavy footprint wp.org #9 ↓2 10

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11

Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) heavy footprint wp.org #11 ↑1 12

Stackable – Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks 100K+ · 4.9★ (522) heavy footprint wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #16 ↑8 3 too low 14

Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint wp.org #8 ↓2 6 too high 15

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #22 7 too low 16

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #20 ↓3 4 too low 17

GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) heavy footprint wp.org #12 ↓4 5 too high 18

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #17 1 too high 19

Custom Block Builder – Lazy Blocks 20K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #23 ↓5 4 too low 20

Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21

WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22

BlockArt Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder Blocks ,WordPress Block Plugin, Sections & Template Library 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too high 23

VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24

Qi Blocks 60K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #24

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.