Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “wpml”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 5 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

Quform WPML shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 600+ 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

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 No Category Base (WPML) 100K+ · 4.5★ (34) wp.org #1 2 WPML Multilingual & Multicurrency for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.2★ (454) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #5 ↑5 2 too low 4 WPML to Polylang 5K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too low 6 WPML Multilingual for BuddyPress and BuddyBoss 6K+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #6 7 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #17 ↑1 9 too low 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #22 ↑1 12 too low 11 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 AutoMLP – AI Translation for WPML 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Q qTranslate X Cleanup and WPML Import 800+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 LATW AI Translation for WPML 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Quform WPML 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Multilingual Forms for Fluent Forms with WPML 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 E Events Manager and WPML Compatibility 1K+ · 2.8★ (13) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Smartcat Translator for WPML 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 MC4WP: WPML Integration 1K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓3 15 too high 24 Directorist – WPML Integration 400+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.