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

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 “hardening”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

WP Guardian – Security Hardening Checklist & Lightweight Firewall shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection places #5 on merit, 4.6★ from 3992 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #3 4 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 Titan Anti-spam & Security – Brute Force Protection, 2FA & Spam Filter 50K+ · 4.5★ (370) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #6 ↑4 1 too high 8 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (61) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 SiteLock Security – WP Hardening, Login Security & Malware Scans 1K+ · 3.4★ (14) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Username Changer 40K+ · 4.3★ (77) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too low 11 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #11 12 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 SiteFort Security – Malware Scanner, Firewall, Login Security & Hardening 50+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too high 15 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓7 6 too low 16 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 NETSENSAI Shield 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 Login Armor 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 WP Guardian – Security Hardening Checklist & Lightweight Firewall 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑16 15 too high 21 CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 WT Hardening 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 Hopelessly Sensible: Simple Security Hardening 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Basic Security: Prevent Cross Site Scripting 200+ · 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.