Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

T

Ranked above its merit

Throws SPAM Away shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1039 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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★ (5040) wp.org #2 3 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Anti-Spam Protection – No API Key, GDPR Friendly 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Anti-spam Reloaded 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Block Specific Spam Woo Orders 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 En Spam 500+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 CloudFilt Bot & Spam Protection 500+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #16 8 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.