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

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 “ddos”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Zaygl IP blocker and anti-DDoS shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 50+ 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

miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator) places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 385 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Cloudflare 200K+ · 3.5★ (181) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (783) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Stop User Enumeration 60K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator) 10K+ · 4.5★ (385) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 Stop XML-RPC Attacks 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 Simple Disable XML-RPC 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓4 2 too high 13 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Disable XML-RPC Pingback 60K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 MyCryptoCheckout – Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 100+ altcoins for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (49) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 bunny.net – WordPress CDN Plugin 10K+ · 3.1★ (22) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Zaygl IP blocker and anti-DDoS 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↓1 13 too high 19 Migrate to WordPress.com 2K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 CloudFilt Bot & Spam Protection 500+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Anti Browser DDoS Protection 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓7 4 too high 22 S Simple DDoS Monitor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 WEDOS | Protection & Cache Performance 300+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓5 2 too high 24 WP Guardian – Security Hardening Checklist & Lightweight Firewall 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.