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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cors headers”

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 “cors headers”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Enable CORS shows at wp.org #2 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 4755 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #13 ↑6 8 too low 6 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Simple JWT Login – Allows you to use JWT on REST endpoints. 4K+ · 5.0★ (47) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #20 ↓3 11 too low 10 Security Header Generator 400+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Enable CORS 5K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #2 ↓1 11 too high 14 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 OrganicStack Publisher 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 AdminEase – All-in-One Admin Toolkit: Security & Performance 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑2 5 too low 17 jAlbum Bridge 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑3 19 I Invizo Headless Mode 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 F Fecommerce CORS Bridge — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓4 1 too high 21 Fastly 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Juliet Just Masks 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 H HWConnector Lite – Headless REST API & CORS — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 All in One Content Protector & Security 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.