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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content gate”

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 gate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

AB Age Gate shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 40+ 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

The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Age Gate 40K+ · 4.6★ (64) wp.org #1 2 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too low 6 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) wp.org #12 ↑5 5 too low 8 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #24 16 too low 9 WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 HollerBox — Fast & Effective Popups & Lead-Generation 2K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 Subscriptions for WooCommerce Recurring Payments with Membership Content Restriction 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 Bread & Butter – Identify Website Visitors, Score Leads & Gate Content 70+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Scrollsequence – Cinematic Scroll Image Animation Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 MemberSpace – Sell community access, content, online courses, memberships and paid subscriptions 200+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 AI Content Writer – Automatic Content Generator and Auto Poster 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 11 too high 17 Opace AI Scribe: SEO Content Creator & Humanizer for OpenAI, Anthropic & Gemini 100+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 AB Age Gate 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 14 too high 19 Advanced Age Verification Popup 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 SureMembers – Membership & Content Restriction Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 GRO 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 too high 22 VelvetGate – A Luxury-Style Age Gate 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 WP Secure Content 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Waypoint SEO Content Generator 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.