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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp rest api cache”

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 rest api cache”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

Aruba HiSpeed Cache shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 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 wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #2 3 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #3 4 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #4 5 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #11 ↑6 3 too low 9 WP REST Cache 10K+ · 4.9★ (42) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 Cache Enabler 100K+ · 4.3★ (139) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #20 ↓7 8 too low 13 SQLite Object Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #15 ↑5 4 too high 20 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Aruba HiSpeed Cache 100K+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #9 ↑1 14 too high 24 REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 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.