wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “auto sign out”
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 “auto sign out”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Idle User Logout shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5,043)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2,147)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Social Media Auto Publish 5K+ · 4.7★ (345)
wp.org #4 ↑2 5 
OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327)
wp.org #6 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 6 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2,409)
wp.org #5 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 7 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1,720)
wp.org #7 ↑4 8 
Loggedin – Session Manager: Limit Concurrent Logins & Auto Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112)
wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 9 
WP to LinkedIn Auto Publish 900+ · 4.7★ (59)
wp.org #8 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 10 
Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1,033)
wp.org #13 ↑3 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 11 
Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (112)
wp.org #12 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 12 
Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125)
wp.org #11 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 13 
CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3,236)
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 14 
SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356)
wp.org #15 ↑4 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 15 
Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556)
wp.org #18 ↓6 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 16 
Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171)
wp.org #17 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 17 
WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154)
wp.org #19 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 18 
Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355)
wp.org #24 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 19 
Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142)
wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 20 Idle User Logout 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit 21 
FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (36)
wp.org #14 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 7 places above merit 22 
Fetchify 600+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 23 
AC’s Auto Loan Calculator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 24 
AFB – Auto Form Builder: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Multi-Step Forms, Conditional Logic & AI 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓5 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.