wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp debug”
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 debug”, 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
Debug shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1233 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too high 4 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #7 ↑5 2 too low 6 
Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #10 ↓3 2 too low 9 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 
Debug Log Manager – Conveniently Monitor and Inspect Errors 10K+ · 5.0★ (25)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233)
wp.org #22 ↑3 11 too low 12 
WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81)
wp.org #12 ↑1 13 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↑3 14 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #21 ↑3 7 too low 15 
WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272)
wp.org #20 5 too low 16 
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too high 18 
WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249)
wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Debug 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑1 13 too high 20 
Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑1 11 too high 21 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑3 5 too high 22 
WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36)
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
WP Debugging 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑3 6 too high 24 
Debug Log Viewer 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #24 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.