Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cms monitoring”

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 “cms monitoring”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

SYSSY – Monitoring Websites shows at wp.org #1 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 244 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 CM Answers – Discussion Forum Plugin for WordPress Q&A 300+ · 3.8★ (86) wp.org #2 3 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Apocalypse Meow 300+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #17 ↓1 10 too low 8 Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) 9K+ · 4.6★ (244) wp.org #22 ↓1 14 too low 9 SYSSY – Monitoring Websites 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 8 too high 10 WebTotem Security 800+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 WC Shop Sync – Square Payment Gateway and Product Synchronization for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (42) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 WebDefender Security – Protection & AntiSpam 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too high 15 Ray Enterprise Translation 7K+ · 2.6★ (48) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Activity Logs, User Activity Tracking, Multisite Activity Log from Logtivity 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 AI Auto Post & Image Generator 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 Editoria11y Accessibility Checker 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Jeepers Peepers: WP Syslog 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 WP Admin Audit 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 BotPenguin – Generative AI Chatbot with Live Chat & ChatGPT 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 WatchTowerHQ 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 AAArdvark Accessibility Reports 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 CMS Watchman — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.