wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “deactivate users”
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 “deactivate users”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Products Restricted Users for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #1 2 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #4 5 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #14 7 too low 8 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #6 2 too high 9 
PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143)
wp.org #9 ↓1 10 
RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459)
wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too low 12 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #13 14 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #23 ↓5 9 too low 15 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #16 ↓5 1 too low 16 
Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #5 11 too high 17 
Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #20 ↑2 2 too low 19 
Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69)
wp.org #22 ↓5 3 too low 20 
WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓2 8 too high 21 
Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓9 3 too low 22 
Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑4 3 too high 23 Products Restricted Users for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑4 13 too high 24 
SCIM User Sync/Provisioning 200+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #21 3 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.