Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 info”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Info Cards – Add Text and Media in Card Layouts shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP-Members Membership Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 272 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #2 ↑1 3 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 WP Last Modified Info 40K+ · 4.9★ (855) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too high 9 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too low 10 WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #8 ↑4 3 too high 12 WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111) wp.org #16 ↑4 4 too low 13 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #17 ↑5 2 too low 16 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #11 ↑2 7 too high 19 WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ · 4.8★ (169) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too high 21 atec Cache Info 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #14 ↑3 7 too high 22 WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Info Cards – Add Text and Media in Card Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑2 11 too high 24 CL WP Info 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑5 6 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.