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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “anti attack”

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 “anti attack”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 plugins are 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

WP Anti-Clickjack shows at wp.org #4 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

hCaptcha for WP places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 88 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 3 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #3 4 Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (783) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #5 6 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft – WordPress Anti-Bot and Security Plugin for Login and Forms 4K+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #13 ↑7 1 too low 13 Anti-Spam Protection – No API Key, GDPR Friendly 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 WP Anti-Clickjack 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 Trusona for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Zaygl IP blocker and anti-DDoS 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 UsersWP – ReCaptcha 3K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 BotFend Anti-Bot Firewall 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.