wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress error logging”
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 error logging”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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
Error Log Viewer by BestWebSoft shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 491 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 E Error Log Monitor 20K+ · 4.3★ (48)
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321)
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491)
wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 
Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 1 too high 13 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 
Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #12 3 too high 16 
Debug Log Manager – Conveniently Monitor and Inspect Errors 10K+ · 5.0★ (25)
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 
Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101)
wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 
Sentry for WordPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 
Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179)
wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 
Fatal Error Notify 6K+ · 4.8★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too high 21 
Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52)
wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Error Log Viewer by BestWebSoft 5K+ · 4.8★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 
Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 
GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 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.