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

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 recaptcha”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Mailster reCaptcha shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #1 2

Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #2 3

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4

reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #13 ↓6 7 too low 7

Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 too high 8

Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current wp.org #9 ↑1 10

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too low 11

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #20 ↑4 8 too low 13

ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress 9K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #15 ↓4 1 too low 15

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #23 8 too low 16

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17

Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18

Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 6 too low 19

CF7 Invisible reCAPTCHA 6K+ · 3.1★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #7 12 too high 20

Web-Art Login Shield with reCAPTCHA 100+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too high 21

Uber reCaptcha 1K+ · 3.7★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓3 22

reCAPTCHA V3 for Jetpack 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓4 10 too high 23

Speedx – Disable Login Verification Required Emails for Wordfence 200+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24

Mailster reCaptcha 1K+ · 2.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #11 13 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.