wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp email”
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 email”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
WP-EMail shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 11 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
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 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #2 3 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #3 4 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #4 ↑4 5 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too high 7 
WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184)
wp.org #7 ↑15 8 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too low 9 
WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #13 ↑8 2 too low 12 
Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94)
wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too high 13 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #14 ↑5 15 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too high 16 
WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490)
wp.org #19 ↓13 3 too low 17 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #21 ↓10 2 too low 20 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133)
wp.org #22 ↓6 1 too low 22 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Email Log 80K+ · 4.2★ (43)
wp.org #23 ↑1 24 WP-EMail 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑2 8 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.