Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “access control”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “access control”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection shows at wp.org #7 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 94 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #1 2 Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382) wp.org #2 3 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Access Governance for WordPress (aka AAM) 100K+ · 4.2★ (420) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #14 ↑3 7 too low 8 User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #16 ↑6 7 too low 10 Restricted Site Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too low 12 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 A Admin Bar & Dashboard Access Control 3K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #10 ↓2 6 too high 17 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #19 ↓6 1 too low 19 Better Plugin Compatibility Control 4K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Prevent Files / Folders Access 1K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 Order Status Control for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Custom Access Roles 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too high 24 Htaccess by BestWebSoft – WordPress Website Access Control Plugin 400+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.