I just make sure the install count is something high (if it is lower than say 100k, then probably there is a better plugin out there to do the job) and it has been updated in the past couple months, and it is compatible with the latest version of Wordpress. All that info is directly visible while you are searching for plugins within Wordpress itself on the search page itself. And typically I'll also do a Google search for whatever problem I'm trying to solve and make sure it's recommended by at least two people.

Btw, I'm a senior full stack software engineer. But for my digital media business I operate several Wordpress websites. I don't talk to any Wordpress devs and do any custom Wordpress theme or plugin development (aside from what is available in the GUI and extremely minor CSS tweaks).

Download count and reviews aren’t necessarily trustworthy though.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/using-fake-reviews-to-fi...