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← Rankings

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

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

Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. 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★ (3221) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #4 ↑4 1 too low 4 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #10 ↓4 2 too low 9 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #18 ↓2 9 too low 10 Chat Button & Custom ChatGPT-Powered Bot by GetButton.io 20K+ · 4.5★ (175) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #21 ↓2 10 too low 12 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #14 ↑4 1 too low 14 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #20 ↓3 5 too low 16 Telegram Bot & Channel 500+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too high 17 No-Bot Registration 2K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 Booter – Bots & Crawlers Manager 7K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Checkout Shield for WooCommerce – Stop Fake Orders, Spam Bots & Card Testing 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Email No Bot – Prevent bots from detecting emails 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 DevDome Bot Protection: Bot Blocker and AI Crawler Control 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Forge AI Bot Log – Block AI Bots, Crawler Detection & Verification 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 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.