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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “default comment.”

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 “default comment.”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Comment Blacklist Updater shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Relevanssi – A Better Search places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 406 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Comment Form WP – Customize Default Comment Form 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 No Page Comment 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Comment Reply Email Notification 3K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #13 14 Disable Comments & Delete All Comments 9K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Comments – GraphComment | AI-Moderated Comment System 400+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Comment Approved Notifier Extended 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 20 Comment Blacklist Updater 800+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 S Subscribe to Comments 10K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Comment Blacklist Manager 500+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Comment Moderation/Notification Recipients 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 WP Comment Notification 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.