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← Rankings

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

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.com”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Click Counter and Heat Maps (Free) shows at wp.org #2 but places #6 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #1 2 Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #18 14 too low 5 neo Rename – AI Media Renamer for renaming images & alt text with batch processing 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Click Counter and Heat Maps (Free) 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Easy restaurant menu manager 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Travel & Tours Meta Search 200+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Progressify – All-in-One Progressive Web App (PWA) 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 neo Alt – AI Alt Text Generator for images with bulk processing – Free and No API Key Required 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 neo Replace – Simple replacement using drag & drop 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 neo Duplicate – Copy images with one click! 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 neo Optimize – Resize and cache images – the original remains untouched 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Appointments Booking for Square 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 neoMotion – Creative stop-motion editor for neoDraw 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Order Tags 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 neoAnimate – Impressive animation editor for neoDraw 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Duplicate Content Finder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 neo Draw – Create diagrams & icons without leaving WordPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 neo Library – The new Image Media Library — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Quickfire Cache and Speed Booster — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Gene Scroll Hero – Video Background Hero that Plays as You Scroll — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Filestack AI Image Alt Text Generator for WP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Heckl Tools — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.