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

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 network”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400+ 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 #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 5

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #6 ↑1 7

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #5 2 too high 8

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 1 too low 10

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too low 11

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #13 2 too low 12

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #19 ↓2 7 too low 13

FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #11 2 too high 14

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #16 2 too low 15

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too low 16

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 #21 ↑2 5 too low 17

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19

Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20

BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #24 4 too low 21

Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22

Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23

MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24

Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 15 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.