wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress button plugin”
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 button plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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
Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. 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 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too low 7 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too high 11 
Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too low 13 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #16 ↓6 2 too low 15 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 2 too high 16 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #20 ↓3 4 too low 17 
Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27)
wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #19 ↓4 1 too low 19 
WP Call Button – Easy Click to Call Button for WordPress 40K+ · 4.7★ (69)
wp.org #24 ↓4 5 too low 20 
AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
Simple Chat Button 40K+ · 4.8★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 
Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #21 3 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.