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← Rankings

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

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 links”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

WordPress Importer shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #3 ↑3 3 too high 7 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too high 9 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #15 ↑6 3 too low 13 EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links 5K+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too high 14 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #18 ↑4 2 too low 17 WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327) wp.org #8 ↑3 9 too high 18 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #11 ↑2 7 too high 19 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too high 20 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #20 ↑4 21 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) 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.