wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wpbakery migration”
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 “wpbakery migration”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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
Classic Addons – WPBakery Page Builder shows at wp.org #1 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 3K+ 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
Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 333 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.
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268)
wp.org #3 2 too low 2 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 
Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376)
wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 
FastDup – Fastest WordPress Migration & Duplicator 5K+ · 4.6★ (27)
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221)
wp.org #6 7 
MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093)
wp.org #14 7 too low 8 
Shortcoder — Create Shortcodes for Anything 100K+ · 4.9★ (227)
wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too low 9 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333)
wp.org #18 ↑2 9 too low 10 
Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29)
wp.org #10 ↓2 11 
NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311)
wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 
Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219)
wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 
Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340)
wp.org #23 10 too low 14 
Photo Gallery by Re Gallery: Responsive Image Gallery with AI SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑4 3 too high 15 Classic Addons – WPBakery Page Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #1 14 too high 16 
Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87)
wp.org #20 ↓3 3 too low 18 
Mediamatic – Media Library Folders 1K+ · 3.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 
Livid – Video Hosting 300+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↑2 11 too high 20 
AC Advanced Flamingo Settings 800+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 
Blocksolid 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #9 12 too high 22 
eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23 
Folderify – Media Library Folders 300+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #19 4 too high 24 
Post/Page Import Export – Migrate Content with Custom Fields & Taxonomies 400+ · 3.5★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.