wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable registration”
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 registration”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #1 2 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #9 5 too low 5 
Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 D Disable WP Registration Page 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #2 4 too high 7 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #16 8 too low 9 
Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103)
wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 
AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120)
wp.org #11 ↑11 1 too low 11 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 
UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑4 7 too high 14 
Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too high 15 
Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #8 ↓1 7 too high 16 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 
PiWeb Disable payment method / Partial payment for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (38) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↑2 4 too low 20 
ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21 
Disable Thumbnails, Threshold and Image Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 
Custom Fields Account Registration For Woocommerce 700+ · 3.7★ (6) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 
Disable CSS JS Cache 400+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #20 3 too high 24 
User Registration Using Contact Form 7 400+ · 4.2★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #19 5 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.