diff --git a/website/build.py b/website/build.py
index cba524fa..6ca467ab 100644
--- a/website/build.py
+++ b/website/build.py
@@ -115,20 +115,24 @@ def load_downloads(path: Path) -> dict[str, int]:
 
 
 def sort_entries(entries: Sequence[TemplateEntry]) -> list[TemplateEntry]:
-    """Sort entries by stars descending, then name ascending.
+    """Sort entries by downloads descending, then name ascending.
 
-    Three tiers: starred entries first, stdlib second, other non-starred last.
+    Four tiers: entries with download counts first, then starred entries by
+    stars descending, then stdlib, then the rest.
     """
 
     def sort_key(entry: TemplateEntry) -> tuple[int, int, int, str]:
+        downloads = entry["downloads"]
         stars = entry["stars"]
         name = entry["name"].lower()
+        if downloads is not None:
+            return (0, -downloads, 0, name)
         if stars is not None:
             builtin = 1 if entry.get("source_type") == "Built-in" else 0
-            return (0, -stars, builtin, name)
+            return (1, -stars, builtin, name)
         if entry.get("source_type") == "Built-in":
-            return (1, 0, 0, name)
-        return (2, 0, 0, name)
+            return (2, 0, 0, name)
+        return (3, 0, 0, name)
 
     return sorted(entries, key=sort_key)
 
diff --git a/website/static/main.js b/website/static/main.js
index 073bb6c4..11d43861 100644
--- a/website/static/main.js
+++ b/website/static/main.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ function getScrollBehavior() {
 }
 
 let activeFilter = null;
-let activeSort = { col: "stars", order: "desc" };
+let activeSort = { col: "downloads", order: "desc" };
 const searchInput = document.querySelector(".search");
 const filterBar = document.querySelector(".filter-bar");
 const filterValue = document.querySelector(".filter-value");
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ function buildQueryString() {
   const params = new URLSearchParams();
   const query = searchInput ? searchInput.value.trim() : "";
   if (query) params.set("q", query);
-  if (activeSort.col !== "stars" || activeSort.order !== "desc") {
+  if (activeSort.col !== "downloads" || activeSort.order !== "desc") {
     params.set("sort", activeSort.col);
     params.set("order", activeSort.order);
   }
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ sortHeaders.forEach(function (th) {
     if (activeSort.col === col) {
       if (activeSort.order === defaultOrder)
         activeSort = { col: col, order: altOrder };
-      else activeSort = { col: "stars", order: "desc" };
+      else activeSort = { col: "downloads", order: "desc" };
     } else {
       activeSort = { col: col, order: defaultOrder };
     }
diff --git a/website/tests/test_build.py b/website/tests/test_build.py
index 3b417b24..50627e27 100644
--- a/website/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/website/tests/test_build.py
@@ -463,6 +463,8 @@ class TestBuild:
         assert "1,234,567" in html
         # Built-in entries never show PyPI counts: the asyncio row is the backport package
         assert "26,305,454" not in html
+        # Default sort: entries with download counts come first
+        assert html.index("My-Lib") < html.index("no-pypi")
 
     def test_build_fails_when_group_and_category_slug_collide(self, tmp_path):
         readme = textwrap.dedent("""\