wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp snippets”
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 snippets”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Dessky Snippets shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1268 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.
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #1 2 
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 #2 3 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1917)
wp.org #3 4 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #4 5 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1139)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #13 ↑6 5 too low 9 
Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252)
wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 
WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272)
wp.org #12 1 too low 12 
Insert PHP Code Snippet 90K+ · 4.9★ (707)
wp.org #17 ↓5 5 too low 13 
WP Coder – Insert & Manage Code Snippets 10K+ · 4.9★ (32)
wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 
Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162)
wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 
WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138)
wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 
WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356)
wp.org #22 ↓11 5 too low 18 
WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178)
wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 
Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221)
wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 
Insert Html Snippet 20K+ · 4.9★ (237)
wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 
FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78)
wp.org #19 ↑4 2 too high 22 
WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136)
wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 
WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249)
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Dessky Snippets 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓1 18 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.