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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “auth key”

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 “auth key”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

Easy Basic Authentication – Add basic auth to site or admin area shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 800+ 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

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 397 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 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 2 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 JSON API Auth 600+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #16 ↑3 12 too low 5 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Simple JWT Login – Allows you to use JWT on REST endpoints. 4K+ · 5.0★ (47) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #8 ↑2 9 A API Bearer Auth 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 too low 11 Email Auth – DKIM, SPF, DMARC, Bounce Address, From Address 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 7 too high 12 Orion SMS OTP Verification. 200+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #20 ↓3 8 too low 13 Connect Matomo – Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Two Factor Authentication 20K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 C Contact Form 7 to API 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 WP Cassify 900+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #19 ↑2 20 JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Easy Basic Authentication – Add basic auth to site or admin area 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Edel Auth for Supabase 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 Wapu Auth – Social Login for WordPress and WooCommerce 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 6 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.