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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “comment 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 “comment spam”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 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

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 1720 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 wp.org
1 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #1 2 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #2 3 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #3 ↑3 3 too high 7 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #7 ↓4 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #8 9 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #9 10 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 too low 13 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 Spam Destroyer 5K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too high 17 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Anti-spam Reloaded 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Dam Spam 3K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 Stop Media Comment Spamming 800+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #23 1 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.