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

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 security”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 13 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 #16. 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 #3 1 too low 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 #2 2 too high 5 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Login Security Captcha 10K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 CAPTCHA 4WP – Antispam CAPTCHA solution for WordPress 100K+ · 3.2★ (269) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #5 ↓1 11 too high 17 Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 WebDefender Security – Protection & AntiSpam 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 Captcha by BestWebSoft – Advanced Spam Protection, Math & OCR-Friendly Captcha for Site Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 FV Antispam 800+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #12 11 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.