wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disable search”
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 search”, 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 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 Everything shows at wp.org #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 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 #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #1 2 
Search Exclude 50K+ · 4.8★ (218)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266)
wp.org #5 ↑5 1 too low 5 
Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1815) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 too high 8 
Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↓7 1 too low 9 
Search & Filter 40K+ · 4.5★ (175)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #23 ↓3 13 too low 11 
Disable and Remove Google Fonts | GDPR & DSGVO friendly 100K+ · 4.5★ (46) heavy footprint
wp.org #11 12 
Disable Search 30K+ · 4.7★ (16) thin reviewsstale but ranked
wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 
SearchWP Live Ajax Search 40K+ · 4.7★ (36)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #7 7 too high 15 
BP Profile Search 5K+ · 5.0★ (71)
wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 
Disable Media Pages 10K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #16 17 
Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61)
wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 
Disable WP Notification 10K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #12 6 too high 19 
Disable WP Sitemaps 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #15 4 too high 20 
Disable Blog 20K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑1 21 
Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Jetpack Search 5K+ · 4.5★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 
Disable Feeds WP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 
Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) 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.