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

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 youtube”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Simple YouTube Embed shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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

Feeds for YouTube (YouTube video, channel, and gallery plugin) 100K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #2 3

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #3 4

Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #4 5

WP YouTube Lyte 20K+ · 4.8★ (206) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7

Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #7 ↑2 8

Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #5 3 too high 9

MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #20 ↓2 8 too low 13

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #18 ↑4 4 too low 15

GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #11 4 too high 16

Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery, Playlist & Video Grid 2K+ · 4.9★ (128) wp.org #17 1 too low 17

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18

Simple YouTube Embed 4K+ · 4.2★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19

Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #13 6 too high 20

WP Video Popup – WordPress Video Lightbox for YouTube, Rumble & Vimeo 9K+ · 4.1★ (43) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21

StreamWeasels YouTube Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22

DSGVO Youtube 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23

Simple YouTube Responsive 3K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24

Video Playlist for YouTube 1K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #19 5 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.