Hide from Search vs Exclude Search

Head-to-head on the signals that matter, from the public WordPress.org data.

Health B77

Health B79

Active-install trajectory

Exclude Search moved up one install band, 70+ to 80+. That's a single step across the whole window, so there's no trajectory to draw. The download trend below moves daily.

Metric	Hide from Search	Exclude Search
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	3K–4K ✓	80–90
Install trend Change in active installs across the charted window.	0%	+14% ✓
Overall health	B · 77	B · 79 ✓
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	79/100	88/100 ✓
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	80/100 ✓	74/100
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	70/100
Rating (weighted for review count)	4.2★ ✓	4.0★
Reviews	17 ✓	1
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	74/100	81/100 ✓
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	Low	Low
Last updated	8mo ago	6mo ago ✓
Downloads · 30d	599 ✓	98
Install conversion Active installs over lifetime downloads. Downloads include every update, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower.	6.3% ✓	4.6%
Category	Search	Search

✓ marks the stronger plugin on each row. Rows where they're level show no marker.

Release activity

Hide from SearchExclude Search

7-day average daily downloads. Downloads spike for about a week after each release as the install base re-downloads, so read this as release cadence, not growth.