Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gatekeeper”

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 “gatekeeper”, 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Rabo Smart Pay for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Frontend Gatekeeper 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 2 Tandem PHP Upgrade Gatekeeper — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Turn Off AI Features 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too low 4 Login Gatekeeper — · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Gatekeeper Download Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 w4os – OpenSimulator Web Interface 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑1 11 too low 7 Double Check — Publish Check 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 SwiftSearch for Typesense 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too low 9 I Innovs EAA Compliance Shield: Accessibility Audit & Fix — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Kayode Chat Lead Capture — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 A-Pay Web3 AI Paywall — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 NextXen Designer – Product Customizer for WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 ProfitGate for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 HLB Ability Registry for MCP 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 WP Guardian – Security Hardening Checklist & Lightweight Firewall 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 Uqrate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Kookies Consent 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Simple File Vault – Secure Client Document Manager, File Sharing & Frontend Uploader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Rabo Smart Pay for WooCommerce 600+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Let’s Make Decisions — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 G Gatekeeper 200+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 w3mypq — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Jookas AI Autopilot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Mm Ajax Login 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.