Relevanssi – A Better Search

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.

wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.

516 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 433 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Crossed into this band 10.4 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ evolute2

   4mo ago

   Je l’utilise depuis de nombreuses années dans sa version gratuite, plugin très efficace qui me donne toute satisfaction. Merci ! This topic was modified 19 hours, 27 minutes ago by evolute2.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ Vivien Bullert

   8mo ago

   I was really at my wits’ end because the keyword ‘pasta’ couldn’t be found. So I got in touch with support and Mikko helped me straight away. I’d tried to sort it out on my own beforehand, but without success. I’m so glad it’s finally worked out! Thank you so much, Mikko, for your quick help! Brilliant!!!! This topic was modified 4 months ago by Vivien Bullert.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ nnicosalvador

   8mo ago

   es un excelente plugin pero debería hacer búsqueda por número de parte del producto

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ egocefalo

   9mo ago

   Not if you have 200,000 plus posts and add a few more everyday.

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ andrewwalkertechinsights

   9mo ago

   This plugin fixes WordPress search instantly. It finds results the default search misses, including custom fields. Essential for any serious site.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ jhtjards

   11mo ago

   Been using it for years on various big sites, multisite networks, etc that I’ve developed and it will always be my go-to search plugin. Works fantastically out of the box!– Great search results– Fast and light on your server resources– So many useful customisation options available in admin– PDF/Doc Indexing in Premium is ♥️But where it really comes into its own league, is when you have special requirements that no plugin could serve out of the box. There are loads of useful filters and actions to hook into, all super well documented. The Plugin code itself is very clean and readable, so if your requirement is really obscure you can always look under the hood and see what’s possible. (Usually anything is possible one way or the other.)And if you still get stuck, the support is the best.Hands down one of true unicorns in a world of plugin enshittification.Never change, Mikko!

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ Jimmy Lee

   1.2y ago

   The difference is Night and Day! Thanks you for this beautiful piece of work!

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ kenmac54

   1.2y ago

   The product did 99% of what I wanted/needed. The developer took the time and patience to provide the missing 1%.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 4.27.2 Security: Fixes a vulnerability where a contributor-level user could make a SQL injection. Minor fix: Remove warnings caused by removed synced patterns. 4.27.2
2. — Version 4.27.1 Minor fix: Remove complaints from meta_queries. 4.27.1
3. — Version 4.27.0 New feature: Setting to disable all ‘post_type’ parameters to let Relevanssi control the post types in the search. New feature: New filter hook relevanssi_truncate_search_queries can be used to truncate search queries to 4.27.0
4. — Version 4.28.0 Completely new settings pages! All Relevanssi features are also consolidated under one sidebar menu item. Compatibility: Added built-in support for Document Library Pro above-documents search box. Compatibility: Added su 4.28.0
5. — Version 4.28.1 Minor fix: Some setting values were not displayed correctly on the searching settings page. 4.28.1
6. — Version 4.28.2 Security: Fix for a vulnerability in the debugging mode. 4.28.2

All 22 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (4.28.8). Sites still on an older version should update.

1. Patched High · 7.2 Relevanssi <= 4.28.5 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Content via Late Entity Decode ↗
   2026-10-30 CVE-2026-116522 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.28.5 Patched in 4.28.6
2. Patched Medium · 6.6 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 4.28.4 - Authenticated (Editor+) PHP Object Injection ↗
   2026-10-22 CVE-2026-114704 Deserialization of Untrusted Data Affects <= 4.28.4 Patched in 4.28.5
3. Patched High · 7.2 Relevanssi <= 4.28.3 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Content ↗
   2026-10-01 CVE-2026-97641 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.28.3 Patched in 4.28.4
4. Patched Medium · 6.1 Relevanssi <= 4.28.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2026-09-10 CVE-2026-19985 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.28.1 Patched in 4.28.2
5. Patched Medium · 6.5 Relevanssi <= 4.27.1 and Relevanssi Premium <= 2.30.2 - Authenticated (Contributor+) SQL Injection ↗
   2026-08-04 CVE-2026-15941 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects <= 4.27.1 Patched in 4.27.2
6. Patched Medium · 6.5 Relevanssi < 4.26.0 (Free) < 2.29.0 (Premium) - Authenticated (Contributor+) SQL Injection ↗
   2025-12-17 CVE-2025-14719 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects < 4.26.0 Patched in 4.26.0
7. Patched Medium · 4.7 Relevanssi <= 4.24.5 (Free) and <= 2.27.6 (Premium) - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Excerpt Highlights ↗
   2025-05-30 CVE-2025-5016 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.24.5 Patched in 4.24.6
8. Patched High · 7.5 Relevanssi <= 4.24.4 (Free) and <= 2.27.5 (Premium) - Unauthenticated SQL Injection ↗
   2025-05-12 CVE-2025-4396 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects <= 4.24.4 Patched in 4.24.5
9. Patched Medium · 6.1 Relevanssi <= 4.24.3 (Free) and <= 2.27.4 (Premium) - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Search Highlights ↗
   2025-05-06 CVE-2025-4054 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.24.3 Patched in 4.24.4
10. Patched Medium · 6.4 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 4.23.0 (Free) and <= 2.26.0 (Premium) - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2024-09-17 CVE-2024-9021 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.23.0 Patched in 4.23.1
11. Patched Medium · 5.3 Relevanssi <= 4.22.2 (Free) and <= 2.25.1 (Premium) - Unauthenticated Information Exposure ↗
    2024-08-15 CVE-2024-7630 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor Affects <= 4.22.2 Patched in 4.23.0
12. Patched Medium · 5.8 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 4.22.1 - Unauthenticated Second Order CSV Injection ↗
    2024-04-04 CVE-2024-3214 Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File Affects <= 4.22.1 Patched in 4.22.2
13. Patched Medium · 5.3 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 4.22.1 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Count Option Update ↗
    2024-04-04 CVE-2024-3213 Missing Authorization Affects <= 4.22.1 Patched in 4.22.2
14. Patched Medium · 5.3 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 4.22.0 (Free) and <= 2.25.0 (Premium) - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Query Log Export ↗
    2024-02-22 CVE-2024-1380 Missing Authorization Affects <= 4.22.0 Patched in 4.22.1
15. Patched Medium · 5.3 Relevanssi <= 4.21.2 (Free) and < 2.25.0 (Premium) - Missing Authorization to Unauthorized Post Access ↗
    2024-01-04 CVE-2023-7199 Missing Authorization Affects <= 4.21.2 Patched in 4.22.0
16. Patched Medium · 6.3 Relevanssi – A Better Search < 4.14.6 & Relevanssi – A Better Search Pro < 2.16.5 - Missing Authorization ↗
    2022-02-15 Improper Authorization Affects < 4.14.6 Patched in 4.14.6
17. Patched High · 7.2 Relevanssi - A Better Search Free & Premium <= 2.16.3 & 4.14.3 - Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2021-10-19 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 4.14.3 Patched in 4.14.4
18. Patched High · 8.7 Relevanssi <= 3.6.0 - Authenticated (Admin+) SQL Injection ↗
    2018-04-10 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects < 3.6.1 Patched in 3.6.1
19. Patched Medium · 5.4 Relevanssi <= 4.0.4 - Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2018-03-30 CVE-2018-9034 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.0.4 Patched in 4.0.5
20. Patched Medium · 6.1 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 3.5.7.1 - Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2017-02-28 CVE-2017-1000038 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 3.5.8 Patched in 3.5.8
21. Patched Medium · 6.1 Relevanssi – A Better Search < 3.3.8 - Cross-Site Scripting ↗
    2015-01-03 CVE-2014-9443 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 3.3.8 Patched in 3.3.8
22. Patched Critical · 9.8 Relevanssi <= 3.3 - SQL Injection ↗
    2014-02-25 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects <= 3.3 Patched in 3.3.1

Translated into 29 languages, 6 at 90% or more

Plus 5 more locales with partial translations.

Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2016-06-25 90K+ → 100K+ up after 144 days in tier
2. 2016-02-02 80K+ → 90K+ up after 246 days in tier
3. 2015-06-01 70K+ → 80K+ up

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Relevanssi – A Better Search into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Relevanssi – A Better Search: 100K+ active installs, 4.8★ (406 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/relevanssi