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

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 notifications”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 3 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

Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4228 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #8 ↑2 9 Customize WordPress Emails and Alerts – Better Notifications for WP 30K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #11 ↓3 2 too low 10 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #12 ↑6 2 too low 11 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #15 ↑4 2 too low 14 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Disable WordPress Update Notifications and auto-update Email Notifications 10K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↑1 12 too high 23 Notification Bar, Announcement and Cookie Notice WordPress Plugin – FooBar 3K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 Hide WP Admin Notifications 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.