Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “x post”

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 “x post”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Jupiter X Core shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.9★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #1 2 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #9 ↑8 3 too low 7 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too high 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #8 ↑5 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #15 ↑9 6 too low 10 Coupon X – Discount Popups, Promo Codes Pop Ups for WooCommerce & Announcement Popups 1K+ · 4.9★ (52) wp.org #7 ↓4 3 too high 11 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #19 ↓9 8 too low 12 Contact Form X 300+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140) wp.org #24 ↓5 10 too low 15 Product Catalog Simple 1K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Peter's Post Notes – Admin Notes for Posts and Pages 3K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Easy Feeds for X/Twitter – keep your site fresh with live social posts 1K+ · 3.9★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓6 5 too high 19 Autopost for X (formerly Autoshare for Twitter) 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 Portfolio X 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too high 21 Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Social Post Flow – Social Media Automation, Scheduling, Scheduler, Posting & Auto Post 200+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #17 ↑3 5 too high 23 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 Jupiter X Core 70K+ · 1.9★ (9) wp.org #11 ↑5 13 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.