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← Rankings

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

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 “challenge”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Dam Spam shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #1 2 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too high 4 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Sender – Newsletter, SMS and Email Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (83) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Database Cleaner: Cleanup, Optimization & Repair 10K+ · 5.0★ (150) wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too low 12 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #13 14 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Media Sync 50K+ · 4.7★ (86) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Link Juice Keeper 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 OpenPorte Spam Protection 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↑7 7 too high 19 XML Feed for Skroutz & BestPrice for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #17 ↑7 2 too high 20 Dam Spam 3K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓2 10 too high 21 Kitgenix CAPTCHA for Cloudflare Turnstile 700+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Captcha by Yandex for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too high 23 Power Captcha reCAPTCHA 900+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Challenge – Manage and Display Online Challenges 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.