wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hide away”
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 “hide away”, 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
Hide Products by User Role for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 50+ 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
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275)
wp.org #1 2 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #2 ↑2 3 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #4 5 
Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616)
wp.org #5 ↓2 6 
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 
Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453)
wp.org #12 ↓5 3 too low 10 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 
ManageWP Worker 1M+ · 4.6★ (679)
wp.org #10 ↑3 1 too high 12 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 
SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #20 ↓3 6 too low 15 
Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94)
wp.org #15 ↓1 16 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 
EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85)
wp.org #14 ↓4 3 too high 18 
PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143)
wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 
Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1657)
wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 
Hide WP Toolbar 900+ · 4.9★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 
Shipping Simulator for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (40)
wp.org #19 ↑5 2 too high 22 
FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35)
wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23 Hide Products by User Role for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 14 too high 24 
Secure Login URL Hide 70+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓4 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.