Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 info”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Info Cards – Add Text and Media in Card Layouts shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #2 3 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #3 4 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #4 5 WP Last Modified Info 40K+ · 4.9★ (855) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 too low 7 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249) wp.org #12 ↓5 4 too low 9 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too low 13 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #14 ↑9 1 too low 14 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 atec Cache Info 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 too high 16 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 FileOrganizer – WordPress File Manager 200K+ · 4.8★ (49) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #24 ↓7 6 too low 19 Server Info – System Health & Diagnostics Suite 3K+ · 3.8★ (12) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Info Cards – Add Text and Media in Card Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #21 ↑3 22 Extension Info Exporter 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Homepage Helden Contact Info 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.