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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “antispam”

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 “antispam”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

Antispam for Elementor Forms shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 375 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #1 2 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 La Sentinelle antispam 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #15 ↑4 7 too low 9 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 CAPTCHA 4WP – Antispam CAPTCHA solution for WordPress 100K+ · 3.2★ (269) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #24 ↓9 11 too low 14 AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Login Security Captcha 10K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Kama SpamBlock 4K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 WebDefender Security – Protection & AntiSpam 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #20 21 FV Antispam 800+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Captcha by Yandex for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Antispam for Elementor Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 Block List Updater 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #23 1 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.