wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress cache”
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 cache”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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
Aruba HiSpeed Cache shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 859 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.
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #1 2 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #2 3 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #3 4 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #4 5 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 
Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 
Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
Cache Enabler 100K+ · 4.3★ (139)
wp.org #13 1 too low 13 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #10 3 too high 14 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 2 too low 15 
Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #14 ↑6 1 too high 16 
SQLite Object Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (51)
wp.org #17 1 too low 17 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #23 6 too low 18 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 C Clear Cache for Me 40K+ · 4.8★ (29)
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 
WP REST Cache 10K+ · 4.9★ (42) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑5 2 too high 21 
Nginx Cache 8K+ · 4.6★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #21 22 
SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base
wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Aruba HiSpeed Cache 100K+ · 3.0★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #12 11 too high 24 A Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.