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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp booster”

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 “wp booster”, 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

Auto Ping Booster shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Addon Elements for Elementor (formerly Elementor Addon Elements) places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 172 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Performance Score Booster – Optimize Speed, Enable Cache & Page Preload 10K+ · 4.6★ (339) wp.org #1 2 SEO Booster 800+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too low 6 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Speed Booster Pack ⚡ PageSpeed Optimization Suite 8K+ · 4.3★ (186) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Gravity Booster – Styles & Layouts for Gravity Forms 30K+ · 4.6★ (199) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools 30K+ · 4.6★ (535) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 WP Super Minify • Minify, Compress and Cache HTML, CSS & JavaScript 8K+ · 4.1★ (73) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Addon Elements for Elementor (formerly Elementor Addon Elements) 80K+ · 4.8★ (172) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 AF Companion – Starter Sites, Speed Booster & Growth Suite for Professional Publishing 10K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Auto Ping Booster 900+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Product Badge, Label, Countdown Timer for WooCommerce – Sale Booster 5K+ · 4.8★ (30) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 StoreGrowth – Upsell, BOGO, Quick View, Direct Checkout & Side Cart for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Reduce Unused CSS Solution with Critical CSS For WP 1K+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #21 22 WC Booster 700+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #22 23 Baidu Ping Booster 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Catalog Booster & Product Catalog Mode for WooCommerce 1K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #14 10 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.