wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content access”
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 “content access”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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
Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 60 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Access Governance for WordPress (aka AAM) 100K+ · 4.2★ (420)
wp.org #3 4 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #6 ↑5 2 too low 5 
User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 
Restricted Site Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (62)
wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too high 7 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297)
wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 
Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45)
wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too high 11 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 
Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #14 ↓8 1 too low 14 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too high 15 
Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↑1 8 too high 16 
Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382)
wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 
PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66)
wp.org #16 ↑5 3 too high 20 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓6 10 too high 21 
Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓6 2 too low 23 
Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25)
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
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.