wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress category 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 category plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
WordPress Importer shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 327 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #2 3 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #3 4 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #4 5 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #8 9 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #12 ↓3 2 too low 11 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #11 ↑1 12 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #14 2 too low 13 
List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254)
wp.org #15 2 too low 14 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (200)
wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 
AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301)
wp.org #23 7 too low 17 
No Category Base (WPML) 100K+ · 4.5★ (34)
wp.org #13 4 too high 18 WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327)
wp.org #10 ↑1 8 too high 19 
Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158)
wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 
Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79)
wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too high 21 
Product Category Slider & Grid for WooCommerce – Reno Product Category 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #19 ↑2 2 too high 22 
Remove Category URL – Remove ‘category’ base from category permalinks 40K+ · 4.3★ (61)
wp.org #16 6 too high 23 
Ultimate Category Excluder 50K+ · 4.3★ (78)
wp.org #17 6 too high 24 
Pages with category and tag 50K+ · 4.8★ (28)
wp.org #20 ↑2 4 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.