Pick peers buyers actually consider
Same primary job (SEO, forms, caching), similar price posture (free vs freemium), overlapping tags on wordpress.org.
Cap the shortlist at three. Deep monthly comparison beats a spreadsheet of twenty names.
Scorecard fields
Active installs band, average rating, review velocity, last update, “tested up to,” and whether support threads die unanswered.
Feature parity only after trust signals — a prettier UI on an abandoned plugin is still a risk.
Automate discovery
AuditHQ can suggest similar WordPress plugins from the directory and keep competitive scores on a schedule so you notice when a rival ships a release and you do not.