wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress blog”
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 blog”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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
Blog Floating Button shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 8K+ 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
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #6 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.
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #4 5 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 6 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195)
wp.org #8 ↑8 1 too low 8 
FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #10 ↑9 1 too low 10 
Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81)
wp.org #7 ↓3 3 too high 11 
Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #12 ↑7 13 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #23 10 too low 14 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #18 ↑5 4 too low 15 
WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249)
wp.org #20 ↓12 5 too low 16 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 
WP Blog Post Layouts 9K+ · 4.7★ (83)
wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too high 18 
Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69)
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 
Print My Blog – Print, PDF, & eBook Converter WordPress Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (115) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 
Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38)
wp.org #19 ↓4 1 too high 21 
Disable Blog 20K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓9 6 too high 22 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Simple Blog Card 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓4 1 too high 24 Blog Floating Button 8K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓3 11 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.