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← Rankings

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

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 core”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

Disable Updates for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 9K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Core Rollback 20K+ · 4.7★ (16) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Core Framework 10K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too low 14 WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ · 4.8★ (169) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #18 ↑3 2 too high 21 Disable Updates for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes 9K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Jupiter X Core 70K+ · 1.9★ (9) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Hester Core 10K+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 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.