wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “write page”
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 “write page”, 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
Git it Write – Write posts from GitHub shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Landing Page Builder – Coming Soon page, Maintenance Mode, Lead Page, WordPress Landing Pages 8K+ · 4.6★ (202)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #6 2 too low 5 
PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271)
wp.org #5 ↓2 6 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #4 ↑18 2 too high 7 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #7 ↓2 8 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #8 9 
Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140)
wp.org #9 ↓2 10 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #15 5 too low 11 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 
Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251)
wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 
AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874)
wp.org #17 4 too low 14 
Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564)
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 
Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216)
wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #12 4 too high 17 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 
AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319)
wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199)
wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too high 20 
Live Composer – Free WordPress Website Builder 10K+ · 4.4★ (212)
wp.org #21 1 too low 21 
Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Landingi Landing Pages 2K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Git it Write – Write posts from GitHub 100+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 
Bulk Page Duplicator 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.