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← Rankings

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

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 “concurrent”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

Unagi shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 142 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loggedin – Session Manager, Limit Concurrent Logins & Force Logout 8K+ · 4.9★ (112) wp.org #1 2 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #2 3 Inactive Logout 10K+ · 4.8★ (106) wp.org #3 4 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 Surge 4K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 too low 7 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #7 ↓3 8 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 Magic Login – Magic Link & Passwordless Authentication for WordPress – Login Without Password 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Yandex Metrica 20K+ · 3.8★ (33) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Solid Post Likes 500+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Free Live Chat Support 500+ · 4.0★ (26) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Web-Art Login Shield with reCAPTCHA 100+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too low 15 GravityStripe Subscription Manager 30+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 HandyPlugins PaddlePress – Paddle Integration for WordPress 60+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Security.txt Manager 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 Sessions 900+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Compressed Emoji 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 Unagi 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 Nginx Cache Purge Preload 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 4 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.