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

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 api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 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

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #2 3

Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #13 6 too low 8

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #10 1 too low 10

WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #19 8 too low 12

Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #16 4 too low 13

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #21 8 too low 14

Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #17 3 too low 15

Telegram Bot & Channel 500+ · 4.8★ (22) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 8 too high 16

Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #5 11 too high 17

Better Robots.txt – AI-Ready Crawl Control & Bot Governance 5K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #22 5 too low 18

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #24 6 too low 19

Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 800+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #9 10 too high 20

Booter – Bots & Crawlers Manager 7K+ · 4.7★ (12) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #14 6 too high 21

Checkout Shield for WooCommerce – Stop Fake Orders, Spam Bots & Card Testing 400+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #23 2 too low 22

DevDome Bot Protection: Bot Blocker and AI Crawler Control 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 10 too high 23

Notify Bot for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 24 J JTZL's Bot Maze 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #20 4 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.