wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp show”
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 show”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
WP Accessibility shows at wp.org #12 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 68 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1139 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. 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 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #3 4 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #4 2 too high 7 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #7 8 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #9 1 too low 9 
WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1139)
wp.org #16 5 too low 12 
Show Current Template 100K+ · 5.0★ (71)
wp.org #10 2 too high 13 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #11 2 too high 14 
WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #18 4 too low 15 
WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490)
wp.org #15 16 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #14 2 too high 17 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68)
wp.org #12 5 too high 18 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 
WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215)
wp.org #22 23 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #23 24 
WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ · 4.8★ (81)
wp.org #19 5 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.