wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress mail”
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 mail”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Mail Queue shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 #1 2 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #2 3 
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #3 4 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 
Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #7 8 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #15 6 too low 10 
Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125)
wp.org #9 ↑4 1 too high 11 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 
WP Mail Log 10K+ · 4.9★ (66)
wp.org #11 1 too high 13 
Zoho Mail for WordPress 20K+ · 3.7★ (42)
wp.org #6 7 too high 14 
Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87)
wp.org #14 ↓6 15 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 
WP SMTP Mailer – SMTP7 8K+ · 5.0★ (115)
wp.org #16 17 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292)
wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 
Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56)
wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Mail Queue 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #10 10 too high 21 
Ultimate WP Mail 700+ · 4.5★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too low 22 
Royal Mail Shipping Calculator for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 
Shipping Live Rates for Royal Mail for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 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.