wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable plugin”

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 “disable plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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

Disable WP Notification shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 397 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #1 2

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #2 3

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #11 5 too low 7

Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 D Disable Plugin Autoupdate Emails 6K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #3 5 too high 9

Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #5 4 too high 10

Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #18 8 too low 11

Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 1 too low 12

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13

Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 D Disable XML-RPC 200K+ · 4.1★ (34) wp.org #10 4 too high 15

Plugin Organizer 10K+ · 4.7★ (227) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #15 ↑1 16

Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #13 3 too high 17

Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #8 9 too high 18

Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #20 2 too low 19

Disable Media Sizes 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #19 20

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21

Disable and Remove Google Fonts | GDPR & DSGVO friendly 100K+ · 4.5★ (46) heavy footprint wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22

Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #14 8 too high 23

WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24

Disable Updates for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes 9K+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 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.