wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hide recaptcha”
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 recaptcha”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
TDB Hide Recaptcha Badge shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391)
wp.org #1 2 
Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
reCAPTCHA for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.6★ (76)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #4 5 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too low 6 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too low 7 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #10 ↑3 2 too low 9 
ReCaptcha Integration for WordPress 9K+ · 4.4★ (95)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #19 ↑4 9 too low 11 
Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) not PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↑9 12 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668)
wp.org #16 ↑6 4 too low 13 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #20 6 too low 15 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #14 ↑3 1 too high 16 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #22 ↓3 6 too low 17 
CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326)
wp.org #23 6 too low 18 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 
Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑7 2 too high 20 
CF7 Invisible reCAPTCHA 6K+ · 3.1★ (14) thin reviewslow rating, top placement
wp.org #5 15 too high 21 
Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31)
wp.org #21 22 
Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 TDB Hide Recaptcha Badge 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑2 16 too high 24 
Hide reCAPTCHA on Non-Form Pages for Contact Form 7 70+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑2 11 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.