wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “comments per user”
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 “comments per user”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #1 2 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 
Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25)
wp.org #2 ↑4 5 too high 8 
WP User Manager – Registration Form, Login Form, User Profile Builder & Member Directory 10K+ · 4.7★ (350)
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537)
wp.org #8 ↑5 1 too high 10 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #13 ↑4 3 too low 11 
User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112)
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 
Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #10 ↑9 3 too high 14 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #21 7 too low 15 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #20 ↑2 5 too low 16 
ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236)
wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17 
ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938)
wp.org #15 ↓4 2 too high 18 
UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑3 8 too high 21 
Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #16 5 too high 22 
Lazy Load for Comments 2K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 
User Notes 800+ · 4.8★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 S Subscribe to Comments 10K+ · 3.9★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓3 7 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.