WhoKnew Directory SEO Pro™ - Rank Higher on the WP Plugin Repository

⭐ The Only Plugin Rankings Tool Built Inside Your WP Dashboard

Know Your Plugin Rank + The Yoast for Plugin Developers

The only WordPress plugin that analyzes real search data, reverse-engineers your competitors' keywords, and helps you rewrite your readme.txt — so the algorithm finally notices you.

White text logo of a bar graph inside a magnifying glass with the text WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Who Knew Rank Could Be So Easy
60K+
Free plugins fighting for the same search results
7
Fields WordPress indexes in your readme
$119/mo
What the other guys charge for less
#1
Tool built for plugin developers
The problem
Most plugin devs are invisible on WordPress.org and have no idea why
📉
The Algorithm Is Silent
WordPress.org never tells you why you’re ranking 47th. No feedback. No suggestions. No data. Just a position number that barely moves no matter what you try.
🔑
Keywords You Don’t Know You’re Missing
Your competitors are ranking for terms you’ve never targeted — and some of them are getting hundreds of installs a month from those terms alone. You can’t see it. They’re not going to tell you.
📄
Your Readme Is Losing the SEO Battle
WordPress.org indexes 7 specific fields in your readme. Most devs optimize maybe 2 of them. Every empty field is a ranking signal you’re throwing away — every single day.
🤷
Install Count Compounds Against You
WordPress.org weights active installs logarithmically. The gap between 100 and 1,000 installs is worth more ranking power than the gap between 10,000 and 100,000. You need to grow now.
🧐
Data Is Buried, Not Actionable
Other tools show you your position. They don’t tell you why you’re there or what to change. You’re left doing your own analysis on data that’s three days old.
🏃
Your Competitors Are Not Standing Still
While you’re guessing, they’re testing. Every month you don’t have data is a month they’re pulling further ahead. WordPress.org discovery is a compounding game — and they’re compounding faster.
Insight That Changes Everything

WordPress.org Doesn’t Rank Your Plugin. It Ranks Your Readme file.

Most plugin developers think WordPress.org works like Google. It doesn't. The algorithm indexes 7 specific text fields in your readme.txt. That's it. If you're not putting the right words in the right fields, you're invisible

New Feature

Your readme score is live. See it change in real time.

Every field you’re missing is a ranking signal your competitors are using against you. WhoKnew™ shows you exactly which fields to fix — and helps you rewrite them with AI so you stop leaving installs on the table.

See the AI Optimizer in action

😶
What most plugin readmes look like
tags: form, contact
short_description: — keyword missing
description: — keyword missing
contributors: — empty
Field coverage: 3 / 7
📈
After one WhoKnew™ scan + AI fix
tags: contact form, form builder, email form…
short_description: The simplest contact form plugin…
description: ✓ keyword present
contributors: ✓ filled in
Field coverage: 7 / 7
⚡ Live Proof

See Exactly What the Algorithm Actually Indexes.

Most plugin developers optimize 2 of the 7 fields WordPress.org indexes. Below is what a real WhoKnew™ scan returns — and what it tells you to fix.

📄 THE 7 FIELDS WORDPRESS.ORG INDEXES
✓name — Plugin Name in your readme header
✓slug — Your WordPress.org URL slug
✓tags — Up to 5, weighted heavily
✓short_description — The 150-char excerpt
✓description — The ## Description section
✓author — Author: field
✓contributors — Contributors: field
Step 1

Run a keyword scan on your plugin

Enter your plugin slug and a keyword you want to rank for. WhoKnew™ pulls your live position from WordPress.org and checks all 7 indexed fields for keyword presence. 1 credit. 10 seconds.

Step 2

See your field coverage score

WhoKnew™ returns a score for each of the 7 fields — which ones contain your keyword and which are missing. The average plugin covers 3 out of 7. Every missing field is a ranking signal your competitors are using against you.

Field Coverage: 3 / 7 — tags, short_description missing
Step 3

Generate your AI rewrite prompt

One click generates a ready-to-paste prompt pre-loaded with your full readme, your keyword, and field-by-field rewrite instructions. Open it directly in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Grok.

  • Prioritises missing high-weight fields (Tags, Short Description first)
  • Includes competitor benchmark data for comparison
  • Works with any AI tool you already use
Step 4

Paste. Push. Watch the position move.

Update your readme.txt on WordPress.org. WhoKnew™ snapshots your score automatically so you can see exactly what changed — and whether it moved the needle.

📊 WHAT WHOKNEW™ RETURNS AFTER A SCAN
Keyword: "contact form plugin"
Field Coverage: 5 / 7 fields
Rankings found in: 3 of 7 fields
⚠ Missing keyword presence in:
  › tags               — Add "contact form" to your tags line
  › short_description  — First sentence doesn't mention the keyword
💡 AI Recommendation:
  Tags: contact form, contact form plugin, email form, form builder, ...
  Short description: The simplest contact form plugin for WordPress.
✓
Other tools show you a number. WhoKnew™ shows you what to fix — and writes it for you.

Now you know what you’ve been missing.

Every day your readme.txt has uncovered fields is a day the WordPress.org plugin directory algorithm can’t rank you for that keyword.

The fix takes one scan and one AI prompt.

The workflow
Four steps. From invisible to ranking in one sitting.
01
Scan
Free
Enter your plugin slug and a keyword. WhoKnew™ pulls your live position and checks all 7 indexed fields for keyword presence. 10 free credits every month.
02
Spy
★ Pro
Enter any competitor’s slug. Pull every keyword they rank for with positions and trends. Save up to 24 snapshots per competitor.
03
Gap → Optimize
★ Pro
WhoKnew™ surfaces every keyword competitors rank for that you don’t. Gaps flow directly into the AI Optimizer. Paste. Save. Push to WordPress.org.
04
Track
Free
Every scan snapshots your readme, coverage score, and rankings automatically. Click any two snapshots to see the exact diff. Watch your position climb.

Plugin Features

Competitor Keyword Spy

Enter any competitor's plugin slug — see every keyword they rank for, their exact positions, and ranking trends. Paginated snapshots saved automatically so you can track their strategy over time.

Keyword Gap Finder

Automatically discovers every keyword your competitors rank for that you don't target — no credits used, fully client-side. Gaps are scored by opportunity tier and flow straight into the AI Optimizer.

AI Readme Optimizer

Generates a ready-to-paste AI prompt pre-loaded with your full readme, your target keyword, and field-by-field rewrite instructions targeting exactly what the WordPress.org algorithm is missing.

Readme History & Diff Tracker

Every analysis snapshots your full readme, coverage score, and live rankings — stored permanently in your own WordPress database. Click any two snapshots for a word-level visual diff.

Advanced Position Trend Chart

15 selectable color palettes for any brand. Pin individual keywords for focused comparison. Inconsistency detection warns you when scans don't line up and offers to fix it automatically.

Credit-Based Scanning

1 credit = 1 keyword scan or an interest score check on up to 5 keywords. Free users get 10 credits per month to get started. Pro users get 100–3,000 per period. No per-plugin charges, scan what you need, when you need it.

Plugin Groups & Lang. Targeting

Organize tracked plugins into named groups — your own, competitors, client plugins. Filter and sort rankings by group. Track across 30 supported WordPress.org locales.

Starred Plugins & Pinned Keywords

Star any plugin card to add it to a Starred shortlist. Pin individual keywords to isolate them on the trend chart and remove averaging noise from your history.

White-Label PDF Reports

Generate a branded PDF from your dashboard. Upload your agency logo, drag-and-drop sections, and deliver reports under your own brand. Pro only.

New Feature
Stop ranking for
keywords nobody
searches.
Every keyword you track now gets a 0–100 interest score — live search popularity data, right inside your dashboard. Know which terms are worth your readme real estate before you write a single word.
Scores appear everywhere: Rankings table, plugin cards, Keyword Gap results, and your PDF reports. One scan covers up to 5 keywords.

See Plans

😶
Without Interest Scoring
contact form plugin    score unknown
form builder    score unknown
wordpress contact    score unknown
↳ optimizing blind — picking by feel
📈
With Interest Scoring
 92
 78
wordpress contact  34
↳ now you know which ones are worth it

0–100
Interest score per keyword
5KW
Per credit — up to 5 keywords scored at once
7PLACES
Scores appear in Rankings, Gap, Cards, PDF & more
0SETUP
No spreadsheets, no extra tools — scores live in your dashboard
White text logo of a bar graph inside a magnifying glass with the text WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Who Knew Rank Could Be So Easy
How WhoKnew Directory SEO™ improves your WordPress.org rankings

Push Your Plugin to the Top

Install WhoKnew Directory SEO™ on your WordPress site and run your first keyword scan in under a minute. See your live position, your field coverage score, and exactly which of the 7 indexed readme fields are costing you ranking power — before you change a single line.

Free Download

How WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Compares

Feature
Plugin Rank
Directory SEO Free
Directory SEO Pro
Keyword Position Tracking
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
Unlimited Plugins Tracked
❌ No
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
Unlimited Keywords Tracked
❌ No
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
Lives Inside WordPress
❌ No
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
Readme Field Coverage
❌ No
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
Readme History & diff
❌ No
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
Keyword Interest Scoring
❌ No
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
AI Readme Optimizer
❌ No
❌ No
✅ Yes
Competitor Keyword Spy
❌ No
❌ No
✅ Yes
Keyword Gap Finder
❌ No
❌ No
✅ Yes
White-label PDF Reports
❌ No
❌ No
✅ Yes
PRICE
$90-$1,190/year
Free (Limited Credits)
From $6.67/month

Keyword Espionage

He's already looking. Spy on any competitor's full keyword strategy — positions, trends, and snapshots. Enter their slug and see everything.

Get Pro for $80/YearDownload Free
Why Other Tools Fall Short

Other tools show a number.
WhoKnew Directory SEO™ shows you what to fix and does it for you.

Plugin Rank, PluginTracker, and every similar service do one thing: they show you a number moving up and down. Here’s what that costs you.

⚠
What other tools do
A number.

Your position. Nothing else. No context, no cause, no fix.

Useless without context.

Plugin Rank Starter charges $9/month to tell you you’re on page 3. PluginTracker charges $9.99/month just to track how plugins are performing. Neither tool tells you why you’re there, which readme fields are costing you ranking power, or what to change to move up.

➜ Plugin Rank Pro: $119/mo

Email reports. Position charts. No AI. No readme writing. No gap finder. Lives outside WordPress.

🔍
WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Free
7 Fields

WordPress.org indexes 7 fields · Free shows you all of them

Know why you’re ranking there.

WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Free checks all 7 indexed readme fields for keyword presence and returns a coverage score after every scan. Unlimited plugins. Unlimited keywords. 10 credits/month. You’ll know exactly which fields are costing you ranking power — for free, inside your WordPress dashboard.

One free scan does what $9/month doesn’t.

Free Download

Next level
★
WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Pro
from $8/mo

Everything Free has · plus AI, Spy, Gap Finder & Reports

Know what to write. Then write it.

WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Pro adds Competitor Keyword Spy, Keyword Gap Finder, and the AI Readme Optimizer — pull every keyword the plugin above you ranks for, find the gaps you’re not targeting, and generate a field-by-field AI rewrite prompt in one click. Paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Push to WordPress.org. Watch the position move.

The closest equivalent — a rank tracker + AI tool + competitor spy tool — costs $59+/month as separate SaaS services. None of them understand WordPress.org’s algorithm. WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Pro does. From $8/month.

Go Pro

Plugin Rank Starter: $9/month · 1 plugin · 10 keywords · no AI · no readme tools · lives outside WordPress. Plugin Rank Pro: $119/month · email reports · position charts · no AI · no readme writing · still outside WordPress.

Why WhoKnew Directory SEO™?

“You spent months building something genuinely useful. You submitted it to WordPress.org. And then… nothing. You search for your own keyword and find your plugin buried on page 8 — behind stuff that hasn’t been updated in ages.

That was us. The algorithm is open source — we read it. But knowing the formula doesn’t tell you what keywords your top competitor quietly ranks for, which gaps they’ve left open that you could own, or exactly how to rewrite your readme to close them. That’s not a reading problem. That’s a data problem.

We built WhoKnew Directory SEO™ to solve it. The Competitor Keyword Spy pulls every keyword the plugin above you ranks for. The Gap Finder surfaces the ones they rank for that you don’t even target. The AI Optimizer tells you exactly what to write to change that — field by field, weighted by what the algorithm actually cares about.

We built it for our own plugins first. Now it’s yours.”

– J. Moody, Founder of WhoKnew™

Stop Optimizing Blind – Start Ranking Today

Pricing

Unlike Plugin Rank and other SAS options, which charge by the number of plugins you track, WhoKnew Directory SEO™ Pro is a single-site license — install it on your WordPress site and track unlimited plugins. You pay for credits (scans), not for the privilege of monitoring more than one plugin at a time.

2 Months Free!

Basic

Free

  • Position Tracking
  • Unlimited Plugins
  • Unlimited Keywords
  • Readme Field Coverage
  • Algorithmic Scoring
  • Readme History
  • Readme Diff
  • Position Trend Chart
  • Plugin Groups
  • Language Targeting
  • 10 Credits / Month
  • Community Support
  • Forever Free
Download

Pro Licence

$8/ month
  • Everything in Basic
  • AI Readme Optimizer
  • Competitor Keyword Spy
  • Keyword Gap Finder
  • White-Label PDF Reports
  • 100 Credits / Month
  • Priority Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Upgrade

Growth Licence

$16/ month
  • Everything in Basic
  • Everything in Pro
  • 250 Credits / Month
  • Priority Tech Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Grow

Studio Licence

$40/ month
  • Everything in Basic
  • Everything in Pro
  • 700 Credits / Month
  • Priority Tech Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Scale

Agency Licence

$150/ month
  • Everything in Basic
  • Everything in Pro
  • 3,000 Credits / Month
  • Priority Tech Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Lead

Basic

Free

  • Position Tracking
  • Unlimited Plugins
  • Unlimited Keywords
  • Readme Field Coverage
  • Algorithmic Scoring
  • Readme History
  • Readme Diff
  • Position Trend Chart
  • Plugin Groups
  • Language Targeting
  • 10 Credits / Month
  • Community Support
  • Forever Free
Download

Pro Licence

$80/ year
  • Everything in Basic
  • AI Readme Optimizer
  • Competitor Keyword Spy
  • Keyword Gap Finder
  • White-Label PDF Reports
  • 100 Credits / Month
  • Priority Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Upgrade

Growth Licence

$160/ year
  • Everything in Basic
  • Everything in Pro
  • 250 Credits / Month
  • Priority Tech Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Grow

Studio Licence

$400/ year
  • Everything in Basic
  • Everything in Pro
  • 700 Credits / Month
  • Priority Tech Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Scale

Agency Licence

$1,500/ year
  • Everything in Basic
  • Everything in Pro
  • 3,000 Credits / Month
  • Priority Tech Support
  • 1 Site Licence
  • 14-Day Guarantee
Lead

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the plugin work?

WhoKnew Directory SEO™ scans the WordPress.org Plugin Directory for any keyword and returns your plugin's exact position. It checks all 7 indexed readme fields for keyword presence, scores your coverage, and saves a snapshot automatically — so you can track whether your position is climbing or slipping over time.

What’s included in the Pro version?

Pro unlocks the AI Readme Optimizer, Competitor Keyword Spy, Keyword Gap Finder, White-Label PDF Reports, and 100–1,000 credits per month depending on your tier. The free version includes position tracking, readme field coverage analysis, readme history and diff, advanced trend chart, plugin groups, and language targeting.

Is it easy to set up?

Yes. Install from WordPress.org, enter your plugin slug and a keyword, and you'll see your live position in under 10 seconds. No API keys, no external accounts, no coding required. Everything runs inside your existing WordPress dashboard.

Do you offer support?

Yes. Free users have access to WordPress.org community support. Pro users get priority ticketed support directly from the team that built the plugin.

Can I use this on a staging or development site?

Yes — a single Pro license works across your root domain and any subdomain (staging., dev., testing., etc.). Your production site and staging site can both run the plugin without conflict. This is unique to WhoKnew Directory SEO™ within the WhoKnew™ suite — built for developers who work across multiple environments.

Can I move my data to a new site or export my research?

Yes. WhoKnew Directory SEO™ includes a full data export and import tool in the Settings tab. Export your scan history, readme snapshots, competitor spy data, keyword gap findings, and plugin groups as a single JSON file — then import it on any WordPress install. To move your Pro license to a new domain, deactivate it from the old site first and reactivate on the new one. Your credits move with you.

Why do all 7 readme.txt fields matter?

Because WordPress.org's search algorithm checks all 7 during Phase 1 relevance scoring. If your keyword is missing from tags, short description, or any other indexed field, you lose ranking weight before quality score even factors in. Most plugins only cover 2–3 fields. Every missing field is a gap a competitor can fill.

Does the AI Optimizer actually increase rankings?

Yes. It generates a field-specific, algorithm-aware rewrite prompt pre-loaded with your gaps and competitor benchmarks. You can paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Grok — or use the instructions yourself to rewrite your readme manually. No AI subscription required. Most users see measurable position changes within days of pushing an updated readme.

How is this different from Plugin Rank and other tools?

Plugin Rank and similar tools are closed-source SaaS — separate logins, your data on their servers, $9–$119/month, and they still only show you a number. WhoKnew Directory SEO™ runs inside WordPress, stores everything in your own database, and actually tells you what to fix. For developers who care about data ownership and open-source principles, that's not a small thing.

Can I try it risk-free?

Yes. The free plugin is 100% free forever from WordPress.org. Pro comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee — no questions asked.

Find the Gaps. Fill Them Fast.

Every keyword you're not ranking for is a gap your competitors are already standing on. Gap Finder surfaces exactly where you're missing — then we fill them.

Get Pro For $8/MonthGet Pro For $8/MonthDownload Free
14
Day Guarantee

Try Pro for 14 days. Rank higher or get a full refund.

Install Pro. Run a real scan on your plugin. See your competitor’s exact keyword strategy. Let the AI rewrite your readme for your worst-performing keywords. Push the update to WordPress.org. Check your position 48 hours later. If you don’t see movement — or if you’re not completely satisfied for any reason — we’ll refund your purchase in full. No forms. No questions. The only risk is staying invisible.

Stop guessing.
Start ranking.
Win.

WhoKnew Directory SEO Pro™: AI readme optimization + competitor keyword intelligence + keyword gap finder + full readme history. The last ranking tool you’ll install.

Go Pro — $80/Year
Download Free
14-day money-back guarantee
Works inside your WordPress dashboard — no separate account
Unlimited plugins tracked
Your data stored on your own server
Automatic updates via license