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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hack alert”

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 “hack alert”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

Segurium – Free Malware Removal & Auto Cleanup for Hacked Websites, Antivirus Scanner, Vulnerability Alerts shows at wp.org #13 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #1 2 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #2 3 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #3 4 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 SecuPress with Simple SSL – Simple and Performant Security 40K+ · 4.1★ (106) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Branda – White Label & Branding, Free Login Page Customizer 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 Apocalypse Meow 300+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Two Factor Authentication 20K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 CheckoutWC Lite – Conversion optimized WooCommerce checkout 2K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Segurium – Free Malware Removal & Auto Cleanup for Hacked Websites, Antivirus Scanner, Vulnerability Alerts 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Malcure Security Suite 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 21 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 B Batch REST Guard 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Deep Malware Cleaner 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 Content Guard Pro – Database Malware Scanner & SEO Spam Detector 50+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.