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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “zero trust”

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 “zero trust”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

Trust Badges – Payment Icons & Secure Checkout Seals for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 400+ 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

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 1597 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 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too high 4 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too low 5 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Stylish Price List – Price Table Builder & QR Code Restaurant Menu 3K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar 30K+ · 4.8★ (228) wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too low 8 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #22 ↓11 14 too low 9 Age Verification & Identity Verification by Token of Trust 20+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 TrustedSite 10K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Safelayout Cute Preloader – CSS3 WordPress Preloader 10K+ · 5.0★ (84) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too high 14 Shipping Live Rates for USPS for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #12 ↑9 2 too high 15 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #15 ↑9 1 too high 17 App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #6 ↑1 11 too high 18 WP Tripadvisor Review Widgets 20K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Total Sales Counts for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 too high 23 Trust Badges – Payment Icons & Secure Checkout Seals for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑1 18 too high 24 NIF (Num. de Contribuinte Português) for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.